Safe and Sound
by PrincessTadashi
Summary: When Hiro's sensors on Akuma Island alert him of unexpected activity, he goes to check things out to make sure that no ne'er do well is trying to start trouble again. But when he gets pulled though a time rift and ends up saving Tadashi, he doesn't have much of choice but to bring his brother back with him to the present to keep from destroying the time stream.
1. Chapter 1

This should have been a routine mission. When teen genius Hiro Hamada got an alert on his phone telling him that one of the sensors he'd installed on Akuma Island had picked up on some unusual activity, he figured that it must be malfunctioning or that maybe it was a case of a wild animal getting in and messing with the tech. At this points the sensors were more of a memorial than anything-there hadn't been any activity from either of those portals since… Well, since right after the Expo fire. When he'd placed them on the island after the battle between Big Hero 6 (the newly formed superhero group that Hiro was now the leader of) and Yokai (the masked villain who had been responsible for the death of Hiro's beloved older brother, Tadashi), it had been to make sure that no one else attempted to use the technology for ill purposes like Yokai had. Still, considering no one had even touched the island for almost three years, Hiro honestly didn't believe that someone was going to start now, especially not with Yokai safely locked in prison.

All the same, some nagging suspicion told him that he should probably check it out, just to be safe, and so, with a sigh of irritation at being pulled away from his latest project, he heads over to activate Baymax, the nursebot that Tadashi had built before his death as a prototype for the line of medical robots he dreamed of releasing to drastically improve the current healthcare system (and, on a less professional level, to be a companion for his majorly antisocial younger brother.) Hiro had upgraded the robot's design slightly and created armor for it right after the fire to turn it into a crime fighting machine in order to help him find his brother's killer. After everything they'd been through together, Baymax had become one of his closest friends, and during superhero missions the robot also doubled as his ride to get from place to place, as well as being something of a bodyguard for him (although in recent years Hiro had developed his own form of self defense using an invention of his own that he called "microbots" so that he didn't have to be so dependent on his marshmallow-esque companion.).

"Hello, Hiro," Baymax greets the teen in a friendly robotic chirp when he finishes inflating from the compact red case where he usually stayed when he was not needed for anything. "What may I do to help assist you?"

"We've got an irregular signal coming from one of the sensors on Akuma island," Hiro explains, smiling slightly at the robot's perpetually cheerful sounding voice. "It's probably nothing, but think you can give me a lift?"

"Of course," Baymax answers, his robotic eyes squinting up ever so slightly at the corners in his own unique version of a smile.

"Awesome! Thanks, buddy!" Hiro grins up at him. "Let's get armored up and then go check this out-the sooner it turns out to be nothing, the sooner we can get back here!"

Within minutes the two were in their full superhero gear and flying over downtown San Fransokyo towards the island. It was a beautiful day out-if it weren't for this odd feeling in the pit of his stomach that something really was wrong at the island, Hiro probably would have been absolutely exhilarated by the flight (despite the fact that he'd been riding around on Baymax's back for years, this never got old.) Oh well-the sooner he got to the island and proved to himself that it was nothing, the sooner they could get out of there. With any luck, maybe he and Baymax might even have enough time for a nice, relaxing fly-over of the city before heading back to the lab at SFIT to get back to work.

Ten minutes later the two come in for a landing on the old, deserted island that had once been the site of an experimental portal that was supposed to have revolutionized the travel industry. Instead the portals had become unstable during the first test and had had to be shut down, trapping the test pilot-Yokai's daughter- inside. It had been that accident that had led Yokai down the dark path, wanting revenge on Alistair Krei, the man who had pushed the experiment to go forward despite knowing the potential risks. To exact his revenge, Yokai had not only stolen Hiro's microbots, but he had set fire to the entire Expo hall in order to fake his own death and cover his tracks. Tadashi, the pure soul that he was, had rushed into the building to try to save the man and had died in the attempt. Honestly, being back here on this island brought up a lot of painful memories for Hiro, and he was going to be all too happy to get out of here as soon as possible.

"Are you alright?" Baymax asks, his scanner picking up signs of distress from the young man.

"Yeah, fine," Hiro answers, brushing aside his concerns. "Let's just get this over with."

"All right," Baymax agrees, apparently deciding that arguing with his charge wouldn't actually do either of them any good.

"It looks like the sensor that got set off is in the portal room," Hiro notes, checking his phone for confirmation and frowning when he sees that several other sensors had since been triggered off. "What the heck?" he quietly mutters. Okay, so maybe this was a bigger deal than he'd originally thought. The logical part of his brain says that he should probably call for backup and wait for the others to get here before going to check it out. But, as usual, his insatiable curiosity overpowered his common sense-if he waited, whatever was causing this might have already disappeared! Besides, he had Baymax with him and he was probably the strongest member on the team, so he should be perfectly safe, right?

"C'mon, let's go!" Hiro waves to the robot before hurrying off down the hallway, the nursebot quickly waddling after him.

Once they reach the panel in the wall that leads into the portal room, Hiro pushes it open with Baymax's help and hurries inside to see if he could find the source of the disturbance that was setting his sensors off. It didn't take long for him to locate it.

"Whoa…" he quietly gasps when he looks down into the part of the room where the remains of the portals still stood. Hovering just above the fractured structure of the one on the left was some sort of weird glowing shape-blue and crackling with some sort of energy, the closest thing Hiro could describe it as was a literal tear in space: it was as if the air was a canvas and someone had ripped a small hole right through it.

"C'mon, we've got to check this out!" Hiro cries, curiosity again getting the better of him as he heads down to the main floor to investigate.

"Hiro, please exercise caution!" Baymax warns him, hurrying after him and doing his best to keep up.

"C'mon, Bay!" Hiro laughs, grinning teasingly back at his robotic companion as he hurries forward.

About five feet away from the glowing tear, he finally forces himself to slow down-as curious as he was, he didn't know exactly what this thing could do and he didn't want to go getting himself seriously injured or worse. Even at this distance, though, he could feel some sort of pull on his body from it-it was like the tear, whatever it was, had it's own field of gravity and wanted to suck him in, although at this distance it wasn't exerting a strong enough pull that it could actually pose him any real danger. Glancing down at the floor, he notices that little bits of dust and dirt seemed to be being quietly sucked into the tear like it was some sort of mini vacuum.

He was just leaning down to study the phenomena at a closer range when Baymax finally caught up with him, calling out his name. Hiro, caught off guard and already in an awkward position, found himself losing his balance and falling forward. Taking advantage of his closeness and inability to resist its pull, the tear's gravitational field quickly, almost gleefully, grabs hold of him and, before he can even cry out in an alarm, he's sucked in.

For a brief couple of seconds, there's the flash of bright pink and blue lights and the feeling of cold. And then suddenly things weren't cold anymore-in fact, they were the exact opposite of cold. Gasping as he's unceremoniously dumped out onto a hard concrete floor, Hiro looks around at his surroundings and realizes with quiet horror that he's currently inside a burning building. Instantly the young man takes stock of his situation-he had no idea where he was, but he needed to get out of here, _now_. He could try to escape from the building, but what would he find outside of the building? Turning back around, he sees that there's an identical tear to the one he'd seen back on Akuma Island behind him. Well, if going through one tear could send him here, it stood to reason that going back through it would send him back to where he'd been-or, at least, he hoped it would. Any chance of getting back was better than staying here, so he readies himself to jump back into the portal. But just before he can, he suddenly becomes aware of a voice-weak, but still definitely there, calling out for help. Hiro stiffens. As much as he wanted to get back home, if someone was in danger and there was something he could do about it, it was his responsibility to help. He glances back at the portal-it was still definitely there, but was it imagination or was it slightly smaller now? He was torn by indecision-if the portal was getting smaller, what if by the time he got back it was gone? What if it was his only way home? What would his family and friends do if he disappeared without an explanation? After losing Tadashi, would they be able to survive losing him too?

But there was someone trapped in this burning building-trapped like Tadashi had been. How could he live with himself if he went back home and left this poor soul to die? He wouldn't be able to live with himself, and he knew it. Besides, if he was fast enough, then maybe he'd still have time to get back here before the portal closed.

Making sure that his visor is firmly down to prevent him from breathing in any of the ash and smoke, Hiro takes off in the direction of the voice he'd heard-it was weak, but still there.

"I'm coming!" Hiro calls, using the speaker inside his helmet to amplify his voice. "Where are you?"

"Here!" the voice from earlier calls, the answer quickly followed by rasping coughs. "I-I'm trapped!"

"Hold on, I'm coming!" Hiro shouts, feeling his heart racing in his chest-at this point he knew that he had to save this guy, no matter what.

"P-Please, hurry!" the voice says, weaker this time and punctuated yet again by loud coughing.

"I'm coming! Don't give up!" Hiro answers, eyes desperately scanning the wreckage for any sign of the trapped man. Come on, come on, he needed a sign, anything-!

 _There!_

He finally catches sight of what looked like a human being, trapped under a large wooden support beam. Parts of the man's clothing were smouldering, although it looked like the fire hadn't quite reached him yet-still, he was probably only seconds away from actually going up in flames.

Adrenaline coursing through his veins, Hiro races through the building and over to the man. Smoke was clouding his vision and making it hard to see, but the teen superhero was at least able to make out the general shape of things. Hopefully that would be enough. The first thing he needed to do was get this beam off of this guy-Baymax would have been able to do it no problem, but the nursebot wasn't here. Maybe the microbots could do it, though-

Wait, the microbots! Those could buy them some extra time! Hadn't Yokai (then Professor Callaghan) used the microbots to escape the fire? Maybe they could actually be put to good use for once! Releasing a stream of the tiny robots from his backpack, Hiro quickly forms a protective bubble around himself, the man, and the part of the beam directly in front of them before setting to work on removing it. The guy wasn't talking and that had Hiro worried that maybe he was already too late, but a glance downward told him that the man was still definitely breathing. The tiny bit the teen could see of the guy's expression in the glow of his suit indicated that he was in a lot of pain, but he was at least still breathing.

"Don't worry, we're going to get you out of here," Hiro promises, using the microbots to slowly and carefully lift the beam up until it was fully off of the other man. Once it was a safe distance away, he tosses it and then quickly closes the bubble fully around them. Now they just needed to concentrate on finding a way out of this building! Facing with this task, however, Hiro had to wonder how the heck Callaghan had managed to move in this thing-there was no visibility through the thick protective layer of bots!

"Can you walk?" Hiro finally asks the guy who was still lying gasping at his feet.

"I-I don't know," the man answers, voice choked with pain. "That beam…"

"Damn," Hiro quietly growls-so much for both of them just walking out of here. All right, well, his suit was fireproof (after what had happened to Tadashi, he'd made sure that all of the team's suits were)-maybe if he created something out of the microbots to carry the guy, then he could walk them out of here.

"Okay, I'm going to try something, just stay calm and don't move, okay?" the teen genius finally says.

"Don't think I'm exactly capable of movement at the moment, so I'll just work on the staying calm part," the other man returns, wry humor making its way into his voice despite the fact that he was obviously in major pain. Something about it made Hiro think of the way Tadashi had always tried to make jokes when he was hurting to try keep anyone from being actually worried about him-honestly, the guy's voice even sounded a little bit like Tadashi's…

 _W-Wait a minute!_

Hiro's eyes go wide as suddenly all of the little pieces of the puzzle that he'd been ignoring up 'til this point start to come together. The fire; the way that the building they were in looked a lot like the Expo Hall; the way that this man talked and acted so much like his deceased nii-chan…

"T-Tadashi?" Hiro whispers as the realization finally dawns on him.

"H-How do you know my name?" the other guy asks, tone confused and a bit frightened. But before he could ask any further questions, he goes into another intense coughing fit.

 _Shit, shit, shit, shit!_ Hiro was honestly panicking at this point-as much as he should be overjoyed to see his elder sibling again, the circumstances for the reunion were less than idea, especially considering it seemed like he had just inadvertently prevented Tadashi's death. Technically this was a good thing-he could just take Tadashi outside, return him to his family, and prevent himself from ever having to go through the pain of losing his brother. But there were so many other factors to take into account-if Tadashi had lived, Big Hero 6 probably never would have formed. If Big Hero 6 hadn't formed, Yokai and countless other villains would never have been stopped. So many things had happened that had been set in motion by Tadashi's death, and there was some major danger in messing with the time stream like this. On the other hand, Hiro couldn't bring himself to leave his brother for dead-to almost save him and then abandon him like Callaghan had would be messed up beyond words. Beyond that, now that he had him back, Hiro knew that he wasn't going to be able to let his nii-chan go again. He just couldn't. So there was only one option-as stupid and potentially dangerous as it sounded, he was going to have to take Tadashi back to the future with him. That is, provided the portal was actually still open.

Panic filling his chest at the realization that they might be too late, Hiro forces himself to shove away all his concerns about the possible dangers of bringing his brother to the future as well as the slight glee that came with the idea of actually having his nii-chan back. First he had to get them out of here, then he could think about the consequences.

"Okay, j-just hold tight," Hiro instructs the other man, heart clenching with fear at just how weak Tadashi was looking-no, he was so close to saving him, he couldn't lose him again!

"'K-Kay," Tadashi agrees, not even having the strength to question him.

"I-I'm going to get us out of here. I promise," Hiro says softly, allowing his eyes to drink in the sight of his brother one last time, just in case he ended up being too late, before creating a hole in the bubble and climbing out.

Outside the protective sphere, things had gotten worse-a lot worse. The fire was almost completely surrounding them and there was debris everywhere. Still, Hiro had found himself in tighter spots before, and, besides, this time he had another life depending on him-his nii-chan's life-and he was going to do everything in his power to save them both.

Directing the microbots to stay in a bubble around Tadashi and carefully carry him along behind him, the teen superhero starts making his way through the burning Expo hall. He had a pretty good idea as to where the portal had been, but he could only pray that it was still open or else they were probably both done for. About a minute later, he finally spots it-it was dangerously small, but it was still there and so there was hope! At this point he's practically sprinting, doing his best to keep the bubble from jarring its poor injured occupant but more concerned with getting them out of here alive than making the ride completely painless-he hated the idea of his nii-chan suffering any more than he already was, but sacrifices had to be made in the name of survival!

His heart was rising in his chest as he gets within a few yards of the portal-they were almost out, they were going to make it! But then suddenly he hears a horrible cracking sound and looks up to see a beam just above them starting to fall towards the ground. If he dodged out of the way, the beam would most likely miss them, but there wouldn't be enough time to get through the portal. He has to make a split second decision-play it safe and be stuck here or risk it all and potentially lose everything. It was a good thing Hiro wasn't a gambler because he always went all in. Putting on an extra burst of speed and making sure that he had a firm hold on the microbot bubble, he leaps for the portal and-

"Oof!" Hiro lets out a low groan as he lands on the hard concrete, back in the portal test chamber on Akuma Island. His entire body ached and his lungs were burning from the smoke that had gotten in despite his protective helmet. But his own pain didn't matter-what mattered right now was finding out if Tadashi had made it! Stumbling to his feet and ignoring the shooting pain in his right knee-he was pretty sure he'd busted it open with this last landing-he staggers over to the microbot bubble, dissolving it as he walks, almost afraid see what was inside. For a moment his heart stops in his chest when he sees no movement from the older man, afraid that he had been too late for the second time in his life. But then he sees his brother's chest rising and falling-it was almost imperceptible, but he was still breathing, which meant he was alive! Hiro could have cried from relief, and he wanted nothing more than to throw his arms around his older sibling, to hug him tight and never let him go. But right now wasn't the time for that-if he wanted to make sure that Tadashi made it, his older brother needed some medical attention, and _fast_. Fortunately for both of them, they had the world's best nursebot on the case.

As if summoned by Hiro's thoughts, the robot appears by the teen's side.

"Hiro!" Despite the fact that his robotic voice couldn't show much emotion, Hiro could hear the relief in Baymax's tone. Moments later the relief is followed by the closest thing the robot had ever shown to shock. "Tadashi!"

Hiro could understand the nurse bot's reaction to seeing his supposedly deceased creator-the teen genius was honestly still trying to wrap his own head around all of this. But now wasn't the time for questions-it was the time for action.

"Baymax, he's hurt! Can you get him back to the lab?" Hiro asks the robot, his concern and even panic making its way into his voice. Technically they probably should have been heading to the nearest hospital, but right now he didn't trust his brother's safety to anyone but the nurse bot he'd seen time and time again pull medical miracles in the direst of situations when missions had gone awry.

"Of course," Baymax answers, apparently understanding exactly what Hiro was thinking. Carefully-tenderly, almost-he picks up his creator's limp form and cradles it in his arms, heading towards the door. Hiro quickly tags along behind him, praying with each breath that they'd manage to get Tadashi stable in time.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a long, grueling night of work for both of them. Well, most of the work was on Baymax's part, but Hiro was there by his side every step of the way. Given Baymax's medical applications, the teen genius had been granted access to the university's smart hospital that was usually reserved for nursing students so that they could run tests here. Hiro was extremely grateful tonight that they had access to the most up-to-date medical equipment possible with which to help his injured brother. Still, he felt so helpless just sitting here while the nursebot worked-about every five minutes he would ask Baymax what he could do to help, and every time the robot would patiently tell him that he would let him know if he needed any assistance or if he had any updates on Tadashi's condition.

Sitting in the hard plastic waiting room chair, Hiro fiddles with his phone. Part of him wanted to start calling all their family and friends, to tell them that Tadashi was back. But in good conscience he couldn't do that until he knew for sure that his brother was stable. For another thing, when (not if, he kept telling himself over and over again, _when_ ) Tadashi finally came to again, he was going to be overwhelmed enough as it was to find himself three years in the future-it was probably best for just Hiro (and maybe Baymax for mental and emotional support) to be there to explain everything before bringing in everyone else while the poor guy was still trying to adjust.

Sometime during the long night, Hiro must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knew he was waking up with his head resting on the counter that was next to his chair, a small puddle of drool on the vinyl below his mouth, with Baymax lightly shaking him by the shoulder.

"I thought that rest would be the best form of treatment for your minor injuries," the robot says gently. "But you expressed a wish to be awoken before Tadashi woke up, and based on his brain wave patterns, I believe that will be any minute now."

"T-Tadashi?" Hiro stammers, bolting upright in his chair. His brother was actually alive? Last night hadn't been a dream?

"Yes," Baymax answers, a tiny hint of pleasure in his voice.

"H-How is he?" Hiro asks softly, remembering how bad of a condition his nii-chan had been when he'd last seen him.

"He is… Stable," Baymax finally answer slowly. "I believe with proper rest and good medical care, he will be able to return to almost his full original health."

"A-Almost?" Hiro asks, not liking the hesitancy in the robot's voice.

"I...Did as much as was medically possible," Baymax answers in a slow, halting voice, his inflatable form seeming to sag slightly. "Unfortunately, there was severe trauma to Tadashi's lower spinal cord. He has full use of most of his body, but I believe… There is a chance he will never walk again."

"O-Oh…" Hiro sharply sucks in a breath-Tadashi, unable to walk? The idea of his strong, proud nii-chan being confined to a wheelchair was possibly one of the most painful things Hiro had ever had to face, ranking right after actually losing Tadashi. But then he saw just how upset Baymax was and realized that he wasn't the only one being affected by this. The poor nurse bot's purpose was to heal the sick and injured, and yet the one person he probably wanted to heal most of all was beyond his help.

"I-It's okay, buddy," Hiro says softly, laying a hand on the robot's arm. "You did your best. He's alive, that's the important thing. And, even if Tadashi ends up not being able to walk on his own, well… We'll find another way for him to be able to get around!" The teen wraps his arms tightly around the robot. "Thank you," he whispers gratefully. "Thank you for bringing Tadashi back to me."

Baymax gratefully hugs him back, closing his eyes and seeming more at peace thanks to Hiro's words. "You are welcome," the robot answers quietly.

Their embrace is soon interrupted by the sound of soft noises coming from the hospital bed behind them.

"Tadashi!" Hiro lets go of the nursebot and hurries over to his elder sibling's hospital bed. He was relieved to see that Tadashi looked exactly the same as he remembered him, except for some scarring on his left arm and part of his neck and face from the fire (Baymax hurried to reassure him that most of that would heal with time.) What the teen hated, though, was the look of absolute terror and agony on the older man's face as he tossed and turned in his sleep.

"It appears that Tadashi may be experiencing symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder," Baymax notes with a hint of concern in his voice. "Currently he is exhibiting evidence of having nightmares, potentially linked to the events of last night."

"S-Should I wake him up?" Hiro asks, hating to see his strong, fearless elder sibling looking so scared but afraid to act and potentially make things worse.

"I believe he is waking up on his own," Baymax answers gently.

True to his word, only seconds later Tadashi bolted upright in the bed, eyes wide and gasping for breath.

"Nii-chan!" Hiro, in all his years of dreaming what things would be like if he ever had the chance to see his brother again-if only for a few seconds-had never imagined things to be like this. He'd always imagined it being a happy, if tearful, reunion. Now, though, he found himself wrapping his arms around his older brother-being the comforter instead of being the being the comforted. It was a strange change in the dynamics of their relationship, and he could only imagine what other things were going to end up being different between them. Three years was a long time and, even if Tadashi was still exactly the same, the younger Hamada had grown a lot since then, both physically and in maturity. Right now, though, Hiro decides, that didn't matter. Right now he felt like he was a fourteen-year-old boy all over again who was finally getting his brother back.

"It's okay, nii-chan," Hiro says softly, hugging his elder sibling close to his chest and feeling a few tears escaping his eyes and traveling down his cheeks. "It's okay. I've got you. You're safe now." Sweeter words had never come out of his mouth-Tadashi was safe, and that was probably the most amazing miracle he'd ever experienced.

"H-Hiro…"

Hiro felt his heart clench in his chest at the sound of his brother's voice saying his name-he never thought he'd be able to hear that sound again… The elder man still sounded slightly disoriented, but he was gradually relaxing in his brother's embrace.

"W-What happened?" Tadashi finally asks softly.

"How much do you remember?" Hiro returns, not sure where to begin but definitely not wanting to shock his older sibling when he was still recovering and so deciding to let the older man set the pace of the conversation.

"I-I remember the Expo," Tadashi answers in a slow, halting voice, his grip tightening slightly around his younger sibling. "I remember you getting your acceptance letter and then we were going to celebrate with everyone, but then...:"

His voice trails off and he starts shivering violently, as if the horrible memories were almost too much for him to handle.

"It's okay," Hiro says firmly. "You're safe now, that's what matters." He was trying to keep the mood light but he wasn't particularly enjoying reminiscing about the memories of watching the fire either. He was unable to imagine what it must have been like for Tadashi to have actually lived through them-to have thought he was actually about to die. How did someone move on from that kind of terrifying experience? Still, thank God Hiro had been given a second chance and actually been able to rescue his brother this time.

"I-I can't believe I was so stupid…" Tadashi whispers, his fingers curling into the fabric of Hiro's shirt, as if needing physical reassurance that he was actually here, safe in a hospital room, and not back in the burning Expo hall. "How did I think I could actually…"

"Because you're a much better person than almost everyone on this planet and you never give up on anyone," Hiro replies, soothingly rubbing circles with his thumbs into his brother's back. As many times as he'd asked himself the same question-why Tadashi had sacrificed everything to try to save someone who was beyond rescuing instead of staying safe with his family and friends who needed him-he finally found that he was actually able to forgive his elder sibling for everything.

"A-At least I somehow made it out of there alive…" Tadashi says, taking in a shaky breath before asking in an absolutely heartbroken voice, "C-Callaghan… D-Did he…?"

It absolutely turned Hiro's stomach to hear his older brother being so concerned over the safety of the bastard who had left him for dead. But right now Hiro couldn't lash out-his elder sibling had no idea what had actually happened, and the trauma he had experienced and was probably still yet to experience from all of this was more than enough for the moment.

"H-He's alive," Hiro finally answers simply-and it was true, Callaghan was alive, just locked in a high-security prison like the scum that he was.

"H-He is?" Tadashi's whole body seems to light up with relief, again making his younger sibling flinch with discomfort. How would he take it when he knew the truth? Would the fact that he'd been so horribly betrayed by someone he'd thought he could trust with his whole life cause something of his infinite goodness to twist or die inside of him? Hiro didn't know exactly what might happen, but he would do his very best to protect his elder sibling from that kind of pain as much as he possibly could.

"Enough about him," Hiro finally manages to get out, trying to make his tone dismissive instead of letting on the bitter rage he still felt towards the ex-professor. "How are you feeling?"

"...As good as I can be, considering," Tadashi answers, his tone strategically calm, something which told Hiro that he was in a lot more pain than he was letting on but just didn't want to worry him.

"Y-Your legs…" Hiro says softly, hating to open this can of worms but knowing that the sooner they discussed this, the sooner they could start seeing what they could do to help him. "T-There was some pretty bad damage to your spinal chord, we don't know-"

"I know." Tadashi's voice was quiet, and Hiro could almost hear him trying to smile through the pain even if he couldn't see his expression given the older man hadn't let go of him yet, still holding him in a tight embrace as if as afraid as his younger sibling to let go. "W-When that beam hit me last night… I could feel it. I half woke up a couple times last night-I-I can't feel them, and I definitely can't move them." He lets out a strangled sort of laugh and say, "I-I guess at least it's better than being in pain, or I could be totally paralyzed, right? It could be worse."

"Dashi…" Hiro buries his face in his older sibling's chest. "I'm so sorry…"

"Don't be," Tadashi answers, trying to sound like his normal, cheerful self, but the younger boy could feel the tiny tremors running through his body as he tries to hold back his tears at his own loss. "I-It's not like I have to give up inventing or anything, right? This will just take a little getting used to…"

"I swear I will invent something that will let you be able to walk again," Hiro says, fighting back tears of his own. "No matter how long it takes."

"If anyone can, it's you, otouto," Tadashi answers, gently ruffling the younger boy's hair. Hiro instantly nuzzled into the touch-he never would have imagined that he'd have missed this, but now that he had it back he realized that his entire body had been aching for his elder sibling's playfully affectionate way of showing him just how much he cared about him.

"C'mon, let's put last night behind us as much as we can and focus on the good stuff, huh?" Tadashi says, finally starting to pull away from his younger sibling. "Are the others here, or are they off taking a break? I hope they didn't stay all night, although knowing them I wouldn't be surprised if they all camped out in here if the nurses let them!"

"Uh…" For a moment Hiro was confused, wondering if his brother had actually been hit on the head last night and was babbling. Then he finally realized the truth. Based on their surroundings, Tadashi probably thought they were in San Fransokyo General Hospital right now. Shit, how was the teen genius supposed to even begin to explain all of this to him?

"They… Actually aren't here right now," Hiro finally begins awkwardly.

"So they went home to get some rest?" Tadashi asks, seeming relieved.

"Something like that…" Hiro mumbles, trying to figure out how to start breaking the truth gently to his elder sibling-if there was a gentle way to explain to someone that they'd actually been dead for the last three years or, depending on their perspective, that they had just been brought three years into the future.

Fortunately, at least some of the work was done for him by Tadashi's keen senses starting to pick up on the clues around him.

"H-Hiro," the older man says, frowning slightly in confusion and concern as he gets his first good look at the teen standing in front of him. "D-Did you get taller?" His eyes quickly roam over the younger boy, taking stock of all his physical changes. Despite the fact that Hiro still was on the short and skinny side, he wasn't the same noodle he'd been when Tadashi has last seen him. He'd shot up a good six inches in the past three years, leaving him at a solid 5'6"-still shorter than Tadashi, but still a pretty drastic change. Beyond that, years of superhero work hadn't left him unchanged-he didn't look like a bodybuilder or anything near that, but his skinny softness had been replaced by a more toned, defined figure. He would never have the same figure as Tadashi like he'd dreamed of having when he'd been younger, but he definitely wasn't the tiny shrimp of a teenager that he'd been when he had last been with Tadashi. Additional physical changes included his hair being a bit longer and his left ear sporting a simple black cuff-not exactly his own ideas, but his boyfriend, Ezra, had suggested them and Hiro had come to actually like them.

"I… I guess there are a lot of things I need to fill you in on," Hiro finally admits, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

Tadashi appeared to be trying to grapple with the new information that he was receiving and, at the same time, trying to come up with the most plausible explanation for it all. "H-How long have I been out?" he finally asks slowly.

"That… Is a tricky question," Hiro answers with a low sigh. "Technically, you've only been asleep since last night. Only last night was actually three years ago."

"Y-You're not making any sense," Tadashi says, frowning and a slight panic coming into his eyes. "H-Have I been in a coma?" he finally asks, jumping to the nearest conclusion that actually seemed like it could be a reality.

"I wish it were that simple…" Hiro replies, running a hand nervously through his own hair. "D-Dashi, I don't know how to tell you this, but… You're in the future. Three years in the future, to be exact."

"The future." Tadashi states the words flatly, utter disbelief in his voice. "N-No. No way. H-Hiro, if this is some kind of a prank, it's not funny!"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Hiro answers, trying not to snap when his own pent-up emotions were threatening to spill over. "You've been dead for three years, do you think I'd be trying to pull a prank on you when I just finally got you back?"

"D-Dead for three years-? Hiro, w-what…?" Tadashi stammers, eyes going wide and a small spark of something akin to panic in them.

Hiro winces-shit, he'd promised himself he'd take this slowly, but instead he'd just let all the cats out of the bag at once. Well, it was too late now-the best thing he could do was try to keep his older brother as calm as possible.

"Dashi," he says slowly, taking the older man's hands in his own, "th-three years ago… Y-You died in that fire, trying to save Professor Callaghan. Last night… Last night something crazy happened and I got sent back in time and I managed to save you. But I didn't know what would happen to history if I just left you there and changed things, so… I brought you back with me. I thought it would be the safest place for you, and I... I just couldn't lose you again, Dashi. I couldn't." He could feel tears starting to leak out of his eyes again, although he was doing his best to stay calm-his poor brother was probably completely freaking out by now, he had to be strong for him until they could get this sorted out.

"I-I died?" Tadashi says softly, a look of quiet horror on his face. If his brain was at all trying to deny the truth of Hiro's words, the overwhelming evidence of the major physical changes in his brother and the fact that he had no reason to be lying about something like this was providing irrefutable proof that the younger man was, indeed telling the truth.

"Nii-chan, I'm so sorry." Hiro wraps his arms tightly around his brother, burying his face in his chest. "I-I tried to save you, but I couldn't. And it's haunted me every day since then. But this time, I did it. I saved you this time. I-I have you back. P-Please… I know this is going to be difficult for you to get used to this, I do. But I swear I will do everything I can to help you. Just please… Stay with me this time."

"Hiro…" For a moment, the younger boy was afraid that the man he'd been missing for so long was going to push him away, to tell him that he wanted nothing to do with him. But then he suddenly feels those strong, loving arms wrapping tightly around him and hears the voice he'd only heard in dreams and memories for these last three years say, "It's okay, otouto. I-I'm here now. And I am never, ever letting you go again."


	3. Chapter 3

Hiro allows himself to relax into his brother's embrace, feeling safer than he'd felt in-well, in three years. He wasn't sure how long the hug lasted, but he didn't care-he could have stayed there for forever. But Tadashi appeared to have other plans.

"I'm so, _so_ sorry," the older man says eventually, gently pulling away so that he could look his younger sibling in the eye and looking extremely guilty. "T-Three years… I can't believe that I put you through that-put all of you through that… I'm such an idiot, how could I have ever…"

"Yes, you are an idiot, but you can't help wanting to help other people, even the most lost of causes," Hiro answers gently before adding with a bit more anger making it's way into his tone, "If anyone's to blame, it's Yokai."

"Yokai…?" Tadashi frowns in confusion at the unfamiliar name.

"Professor Callaghan," Hiro clarifies-there was a lot his brother had to catch up on. The teen bows his head as he continues quietly, "I-I don't know how to tell you this, but… Callaghan was the one who started the fire."

"W-What?" Tadashi's eyes go wide with shock and confusion. "W-Why would he…?"

"He wanted the cover so he could steal my microbots and fake his own death," Hiro answers bitterly. "That way he could get his revenge on Krei without anyone trying to stop him."

"Revenge on-? Oh. OH." Instantly a look of understanding mixed with pain crosses Tadashi's face. "A-Abigail…"

"You knew?" Hiro flashes his brother a both curious and slightly concerned glance-wait, had he known what Callaghan was planning and not tried to stop him?

"I-I didn't know he was out for revenge-at least not anything that would involve setting fire to an Expo hall and stealing someone's invention," Tadashi answers softly. "Going to court or something, maybe. But I honestly thought he was too broken over his daughter's death to actually do anything… Most people didn't know about the accident, but because I studied directly under him and Abigail was actually a friend of mine, he told me… What happened with the portal experiment was horrible, but I didn't think Callaghan would actually try to do something so drastic to get back at Krei…"

"Well, he did," Hiro answers, not able to feel any true sympathy for the man who had almost taken his brother away from him permanently. "Callaghan-or Yokai, as we started calling him-went total supervillain and tried to use my microbots to rebuild one of the portals to destroy Krei Tech!"

"T-That's horrible!" Tadashi gasps, eyes going wide.

"It was," Hiro answers, glad that at least his brother wasn't so loyal to his ex-mentor that he couldn't find fault in his actions. "Fortunately we managed to figure out what was happening in time and put a stop to it."

"We?" Tadashi asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Me and Baymax and all your friends from the Nerd Lab," Hiro answers with a slightly proud smile. "We kind of made ourselves supersuits and we used them to take him down!"

"You did _what_?" Tadashi cries, looking vaguely panicked. "How could you do something so dangerous?!"

"Says the guy who ran into a burning building," Hiro deadpans, knowing that it was a bit of a low blow but trying to get his point across.

"...All right, noted," Tadashi sighs, sinking back against his pillows slightly. "So, what exactly happened?"

"We managed to get the control of the microbots away from Yokai and actually turned the portal against him!" Hiro answers with a grin, hurrying to add before his brother could start freaking out, "Don't worry, everyone made it out of there alive and relatively unharmed. Actually, thanks to Baymax we actually managed to find out that Abigail was still alive in the portal and we managed to save her too!" Hiro decides to neglect to mention how close he'd come to getting stuck in the portal himself and Baymax's sacrifice-no doubt it would eventually come up in someone else's retelling of the story, but there was no need to overwhelm his older sibling right now.

"T-That's amazing!" Tadashi cries, seeming relieved by his brother's words before asking softly, "S-So what happened to Callaghan? Is he…?"

"He's in a high security prison right now," Hiro answers. "It seemed like the best place to keep everyone safe from him and to keep him safe from himself."

"That seems fair," Tadashi agrees with a quiet sigh before realization seems to dawn on him. "W-Wait a minute… Last night… In the fire last night, I-I saw a man in a superhero suit-I thought maybe I was hallucinating, but was that-?"

"That was me!" Hiro agrees with a proud grin. "Pretty sick, right?"

"Y-Yeah…" Tadashi answers with a quiet laugh, as if he was still trying to process everything he'd just heard. "My otouto, the superhero… I think I'd be more proud if I wasn't kind of concerned about the fact that you've gone vigilante…"

"Don't worry, we totally work with the police and they actually love us!" Hiro declares with a grin. "We're considered heroes, so don't start worrying about me getting thrown in the lockup any time soon!"

"I guess I'll just have to accept that or else spend the rest of my life worrying about you every second," Tadashi answers playfully before noting quietly, "I can only imagine Fred's loving getting to be a real-life superhero… H-How is he doing?"

Hiro saw the concern and even slight fear crossing his older brother's face and knew immediately what he was thinking of. "He's doing pretty okay," the younger boy answers softly. "He's still as much of a nerd as ever, and he's actually working on writing his first serious novel. H-He's not as much his old bouncy self as he used to be-I guess we've all kind of grown up in some ways over the past few years. Losing you kind of changed all of us."

Tadashi winces at that, and Hiro instantly regrets adding that last part. He was about to try to take it back when his older brother asks quietly, "H-Has he found someone else?"

"Oh, Dashi…" Hiro gently squeezes the other man's hand, actually able to smile slightly and grateful that he had some good news to finally deliver. "No. I-I didn't even know how serious you guys were until after the fire, but apparently you were and are his 'one true love', as he likes to call you. He tried dating a couple other guys because the others kind of pushed him to, but none of them lasted more than a couple weeks. He said he knew that what he'd found with you was once in a lifetime and he could never give his heart to anyone else."

"H-He said that about me?" Tadashi whispers, unshed tears shining in his eyes.

"He did," Hiro agrees softly. "You found yourself a keeper, bro. And, I know you didn't ask, but if you want to pick things back up with him now, I completely and totally approve."

"T-Thank you." Tadashi blushes and smiles up at him. "And of course I want to still be with him! Only… Do you think he'd still want me? I mean, it's been three years… Apparently all of you got older, but I'm… I'm still nineteen and he's-wow, twenty-two by now?"

"Three years isn't that big a difference!" Hiro says firmly. "And trust me, I have no doubt that he's going to be rushing over here the minute he finds out you're alive to-well, I'd rather not know what you two get up to when you're alone!"

"Hiro!" Tadashi cries, blushing bright red.

"Just sayin'!" Hiro laughs, smirking at his apparently easily embarrassed older brother-this was actually going to be pretty fun getting to mess with him now that he knew about his not-so-secret relationship.

"When did you grow past being grossed out by even the mention of kissing and move on to making innuendos about your older brother's love life?" Tadashi quietly huffs, seeming both to be joking and to also be just starting to come to the realization of just how much he'd missed by skipping over these last three years.

"I guess I kind of lost some of that innocence when I actually got my own boyfriend," Hiro answers, shrugging as if to try to keep things casual but his tone slightly hesitant, as if waiting to hear his older brother's reaction.

"Y-You-?" Tadashi gasps, eyes going wide yet again. "You-? When? How?!"

"His name's Ezra," Hiro answers with a bit of an embarrassed smile. "I actually met him two different ways-I met him first as a psychokinetic vigilante superhero who we kept meeting up with at different crime scenes and who was always flirting with me, and then again as an incoming freshman at SFIT who was the sweet, shy guy with the office next to mine. I started dating him as Ezra the college student only to find out that he was also the vigilante when we were in a pretty nasty fight and his helmet got knocked off. It took some getting used to, but eventually we worked everything out and now he's a part of our group too."

"Wow…" Tadashi's eyes were slightly misty now. "You've gotten so grown up, having your first boyfriend and everything… I wish I hadn't had to miss it all…"  
"The important thing is that you're here now," Hiro answers, wrapping his arms reassuringly around his elder sibling.

"Yeah…" Tadashi didn't look completely convinced, but he does his best to smile all the same before his eyes suddenly go wide and he lets out a tiny gasp.

"What? What is it?" Hiro asks, feeling a tiny surge of panic in his chest.

"Just hold on! Fourteen plus three, that makes you… Seventeen…" Tadashi lets out a loud sigh and relaxes back against the pillow. "Oh, thank goodness!"

"I don't get it…" Hiro says slowly, frowning in confusion.

"For two seconds there I was afraid that you were actually older than me now!" Tadashi laughs. "Can you imagine what it would have been like if I'd had to start calling you nii-chan?"

"Oh my gosh, no, never!" Hiro declares emphatically. "Even if I was older than you, you'll always be my nii-chan!"

"And you'll always be my otouto," Tadashi answers with a warm smile.

"Good." Hiro grins, glad that that was settled.

"So…" Tadashi says after a few minutes of contented silence, "Am I allowed to ask when I'll be able to get out of here-Wherever here happens to be?"

"Oh, right!" Hiro agrees, glad to know that his elder sibling apparently felt well enough to be thinking of moving. "I guess we can check with Baymax and see what he has to say!"

"Baymax? He's here?" Tadashi asks, looking around the room.

"Yeah, he's the one who patched you back together last night!" Hiro agrees, trying to locate the robot and finally realizing that he must have gone into his carrying case both to recharge and to give the brothers some privacy.. "He's gotten really good at fixing injuries and stuff thanks to getting to practice on all of us after missions!"

"Wow…" Tadashi breathes quietly. "Y-You're really brought him a long way, haven't you?"

"He would never have come into existence in the first place if you hadn't thought of him and actually went through all of that hard work to build him," Hiro answers firmly. "He's your invention first and foremost, I just built on the work you already put into him!"

"I-I guess so…" Tadashi says, blushing slightly. "I guess mainly I'm just glad that he's fulfilling his purpose of helping people-it's almost impossible to believe that my life was kind of saved by my own invention…"

"I know Baymax was honored to be returning the favor to his creator," Hiro tells him with a warm smile. "Now how about we get him activated so we can get finding out about getting you home, huh?"

"Sounds good," Tadashi agrees, grinning back up at him.

A few minutes later, Baymax had reinflated and, after a warm reunion with his maker, the robot scans his oldest patient to see how he was recovering.

"I believe that, with proper precautions, Tadashi can be safely moved back to his own home if he is willing to continue on under my care and supervision," the robot finally declares. "Being in a familiar environment, surrounded by loved ones, may even have positive psychological and emotional effects that will help speed his recovery."

"You hear that, bro?" Hiro cheers eagerly. "You're going home!"

"Y-Yeah," Tadashi agrees, grinning up at him. "Home."

"Okay, okay, we've got to figure out how to safely move you…" Hiro says, trying to not get carried away by his own excitement. "I think the university won't mind us borrowing a wheelchair until we can get you a better one, but there's no way you're going to be riding on Bae…"

"Bae?" Tadashi's eyes go wide at the mention of his beloved motor scooter. "Oh, wow, do you still have him?"

"Yeah, I kind of adopted him," Hiro answers with a slight smile. "I hope you don't mind that I ended up redoing his paint job-he's purple with orange highlights now."

"I never imagined that, but I can approve of the artistic choice," Tadashi chuckles before adding a bit sadly, "I think he's going to have to stay with you permanently-I don't think I'm going to be able to ride a motor scooter again… Well, possibly ever."

"Hey!" Hiro says, squeezing his hand. "I told you that I'd find a way for you to be able to walk again! If I can do that, I can find a way for you to be able to ride a motor scooter too!"

"Sure, little bro." It was obvious that Tadashi wasn't fully convinced but he was trying to be positive for Hiro's sake nonetheless. Something about that only made the teen want to try even harder-he would find a way to help his nii-chan, no matter how long it took!

"I guess we might be able to drive you home in Aunt Cass' van," Hiro finally states, forcing himself to just focus on the logistics of getting his brother home for the moment.

"Wait, van? I thought Aunt Cass had a truck!" Tadashi says in confusion.

"She does," Hiro agrees. "But she finally managed to open that side catering business that she's been wanting to do for years, and it's been going so well that she actually had to buy a van to help her carry the orders!"

"T-That's amazing!" Tadashi cries, looking genuinely happy for his aunt.

"It is!" Hiro agrees. "And it makes it super convenient for transporting your chair until I can build you something better!"

"Right," Tadashi agrees, seeming to have pretty much resigned himself to the reality of being chair-bound for the moment.

"Speaking of, we should probably get finding a wheelchair," Hiro notes, realizing everything else was a moot point until they had one.

"I can be of assistance and try to locate one," Baymax offers, obviously looking for any excuse to help his injured maker.

"Yes, you do that!" Hiro agrees, starting to pull out his phone. "I'll get calling Aunt Cass!"

"W-Wait, what are you going to tell her?" Tadashi asks him as Baymax heads off into the mini hospital in search of a suitable chair.

"Oh… Good point, I hadn't thought about that!" Hiro admits with an embarrassed laugh. "I guess just telling her to come pick me up and kind of springing the surprise on her that you're actually alive might be a bad idea…"

"Just a little bit," Tadashi answers, the fact that he was obviously nervous about how all of this would go bringing out a bit of snarkiness in his tone.

"Hey, it's going to be okay," Hiro says more gently, seeing his brother's reaction for what it was-a coping mechanism that he was using to try to get through all of this craziness.

"I-I know," Tadashi sighs. "It's just… This is all a lot for me to be trying to handle. I didn't wake up yesterday expecting to almost die and then wake up the next day to be three whole years in the future, having missed out on so much of everyone's lives…"

"I'm sorry, Dashi…" Hiro pulls him into another tight hug. "I wish I could make it all better-that there was a way to safely go back and undo everything without having to worry about any negative consequences. But I swear, I'm going to do my best to make this work for us-for all of us, okay?"

"Okay," Tadashi agrees, finally forcing himself to relax and hugging his younger sibling back. "We will make this work," he says softly, repeating his brother's words like they were a comforting mantra that would help keep him sane through the next few weeks, days, or even just hours.

"That's the spirit!" Hiro agrees. "Now how about we get calling Aunt Cass to let her know that her nephew is finally coming home?"

"Yeah," Tadashi says, smiling up at him, seeming a bit more confident. "Let's do this!"

In the end Hiro ended up calling Aunt Cass and gently (or as gently as he could) breaking the news to her before putting Tadashi on speaker phone to prove that he hadn't gone crazy and started seeing things. It was obvious from her muffled voice on the other end that she was crying by the end of their conversation, but she promised to be there in less than half an hour to pick them all up. Tadashi wasn't sure that she should be driving in her highly emotional state, but she swore that she would be there to drive both of her nephews home come hell or high water and so the two boys knew that there wasn't any arguing with her.

Shortly after they got off the phone with her, Baymax returns with a wheelchair, and between him and Hiro they manage to get Tadashi safely off the bed and into the chair. The nursebot makes sure to collect the necessary medical supplies that they'd need, including the non-drowsy pain medicine he was currently keeping Tadashi on (Hiro was extremely grateful that someone had finally developed that, Aunt Cass had many amusing but slightly terrifying stories about what it was like back in the old days when pain medications could make people act completely loopy) and some cream that was supposed to help with keeping Tadashi's burns (minor as they'd fortunately turned out to be) from getting infected. Then the trio head for the door and towards where Aunt Cass had promised to pick them up.

"You okay?" Hiro asks, noting how quiet his brother was being during their short journey.

"Just trying to figure out what's changed while I was 'gone'," Tadashi admits. "I mean, to me it honestly feels like I was just here yesterday and yet…"

"I know," Hiro sighs. "I'm sorry, I know how weird this must all be for you…"

"It is a bit weird," Tadashi admits before reaching up to gently squeeze his brother's hand and adding, "But, given the alternative? I'd take an infinite amount of weirdness if it meant still getting to be with my otouto."

"Yeah!" Hiro beams down at him, glad that Tadashi was taking this as well as he was (although making a mental note to maybe not tell him about that fact that there was now a building named after him until things had settled down some.)

Soon the three reach the pickup point and they settle down to wait, Baymax electing to go into storage mode so as not to take up more room than was needed in the van and also to continue charging so he'd be ready to give his patient his full energy and attention once they were back to the house. Hiro and Tadashi pass the next few minutes with small talk-discussing Hiro's latest robotics projects and things that were easy for them to talk about after the emotion-filled morning. And then Aunt Cass finally arrives.

The minute the van comes to a halt next to the curb, she throws it into park, and then less than thirty seconds she's racing around to the passenger side. There isn't even an awkward moment of trying to get reoriented with each other, she just throws her arms around her nephew, not even seeming to notice the fact that he was in a chair, and promptly begins bawling into his shirt, sobbing over and over again, "My baby came home… My angel is finally home…"

If the fact that Tadashi was still the same age that he had been when she'd last seen him bothered her at all, or the fact that he was slightly scarred and wheelchair bound, she never let on even for a moment. When she finally stopped crying enough to be able to speak coherently, she just told him how incredibly happy she was to have him finally home again. Unfortunately her van didn't have a wheelchair lift or the proper equipment for hosting a wheelchair-bound occupant (she promised him that she was having the necessary work done on it as soon as possible), but somehow by working together they manage to get Tadashi safely settled into one of the van's seats and his wheelchair and Baymax's case stashed in the back.

"Are you boys ready to go?" Aunt Cass asks once everything's finally settled and she's in the driver's seat again.

"Yeah," Tadashi agrees, smiling at his family who was looking hopefully back at him. "Let's go home."


	4. Chapter 4

Tadashi did his best to pay attention to everything his family was saying to him on the way home. Honestly he did. It was just kind of hard to focus when he was so busy looking out the windows, trying to see if this was still the city that he remembered or if things had changed beyond recognition while he was gone. Fortunately as he looked out the windows at the passing streets, things seemed to be mostly the same-a few small shops here and there had changed their storefronts or had been replaced by others, but overall it was still mostly the same, which was a huge relief. There were enough changes that he was having to deal with without having the city being one of them. It wasn't that he wasn't grateful for being rescued-he definitely was. And he knew he had no right to complain about anything given he'd put his family through as much pain as he had and with all the extra trouble they were going to be put through now that he was wheelchair bound. As much as he appreciated Hiro's assurances that they'd find a way for him to walk again, he wasn't going to get his hopes up in case it didn't happen-he needed to be realistic about this. Pinning his hopes on something so uncertain could be very dangerous later on if things didn't work out. Still, if anyone could figure out a way to get him to walk again, it was his amazing genius of a little brother.

His little brother… Frankly, Tadashi still couldn't quite get over just how grown up his otouto looked. He was still definitely still Hiro, there was no denying that. And for the most part he was still the adorable dork that he remembered. But it was so strange going from seeing his fourteen-year-old sibling one night to waking up the next day to find out that he was now seventeen years old with a boyfriend and what looked suspiciously like an ear piercing. Despite the fact that Tadashi hadn't medically been in a coma, he felt like he might as well have been. There was so much he'd missed. He was still trying to figure out just when Hiro had gotten so mature-and not just appearance wise, there was just this incredible air of confidence and even wisdom that hadn't been there before. It was more than obvious from the way his younger sibling was acting that he was incredibly glad to have him back and the love that they shared as brothers was definitely still there. But Hiro wasn't the little boy who needed his protection any more-heck, if anything it almost felt like Hiro was the one protecting him now. And the older man wasn't at all sure how he felt about that.

At least Aunt Cass was her same old self-the three years were definitely showing on her, and Tadashi couldn't help but wince at the idea that he might be the one responsible for the few silver hairs that were showing among what had once been solid chestnut brown. Still, she seemed to be happy and healthy and that's what mattered.

The cafe, much to his relief, looked pretty much exactly the same as he remembered it too-it was all he could do not to jump out of the van the moment that it comes to a stop in the alleyway so he could just run into it's comforting interior. But he's stopped when his now useless legs refuse to work yet again and he's reminded of the fact that he's not running anywhere, possibly ever again. It might not have even been so bad if he could have just been put into his wheelchair and start getting some practice in maneuvering around in it by rolling himself into the house. But there's the logistical problem that all the entryways into the main house are only stair accessible, making it impossible to use even the chair to get himself through the doors.

 _Is this what my life is going to be like now?_ he thinks miserably as Aunt Cass and Hiro try to figure out what to do. Was he going to be stuck being dependant on the help of others for the rest of his life, not even able to enter or leave his own home without significant assistance? More and more he was beginning to realize what an idiot he'd been to try to run into that burning Expo hall-how had one misguided good deed messed his life over so badly? But then he soberly reminds himself that the rest of his family and friends had been living with the consequences of his actions for the last three years and, as much of a nuisance as struggling to figure out his mobility was going to be, things could be a lot worse. He'd just have to do what he'd always told Hiro: Look at things from a new angle.

Eventually it was decided that Baymax was going to have to be called upon for help. The robot was the only one strong enough to actually carry Tadashi up the stairs, and while the man apologized profusely for continuing to be a burden on him, Baymax seemed actually eager to be of service. Hiro carried the wheelchair up behind them and, as soon as they're in the living room, the elder Hamada brother was settled into it so he could actually reacquainting himself with the house. The younger boy seemed eager to push him around to show him everything, but Tadashi gently turns him down, reminding him that he needed to start learning how to maneuver around. It wasn't easy and it took a lot of energy even to move the smallest distance, but after half an hour of touring the downstairs he felt like he was at least somewhat getting the hang of things. It was when he stopped at the bottom of the stairs leading up to his and Hiro's room (or, what _had_ been his and Hiro's room) that some more harsh realities hit him.

"I guess I'm not going up there for a while…" he observes with a wry smile, trying to keep the mood light.

"Baymax can carry you up!" Hiro argues quickly.

"No, it might be better if I stay down here for now," Tadashi sighs. "I mean, it is your room now so I don't want to be invading on your personal space…"

"Dashi…" Hiro says softly, looking slightly guilty. "I-I'm sorry… W-We left your side of the room alone for as long as we could, but Aunt Cass eventually said it wasn't healthy to keep everything there…"

"Because I was an idiot and got myself killed and you couldn't keep living with my ghost, right?" Tadashi mumbles, feeling hot tears of shame beginning to prick the back of his eyes.

"Nii-chan, stop it!" Hiro cries, wrapping his arms tightly around his older brother. "Y-You can't keep blaming yourself like that!"

"But I _am_ the one to blame! I'm the one who chose to run into that burning building!" Tadashi answers, the tears finally starting to escape.

"You were doing what you thought was the right thing!"

"Which turned out to be the wrong thing, apparently! I-I made all of you suffer because of my mistake… And I missed out on so much because of it…"

"Tadashi, please," Hiro quietly begs. "Y-You're back now. I have you back. Please don't make me lose you again because you're blaming yourself. I went so long cutting myself off from everyone who cared about me, blaming myself for not being stronger and managing to save you. But it didn't help me at all, and it just ended up hurting all the people around me who just wanted to help and needed me. Please, don't do this…"

"When you did you get so smart?" Tadashi finally sighs, allowing himself to be comforted by his little brother's warm embrace.

"I get it from my nii-chan," Hiro answers with a warm smile.

"Thank you." Tadashi wraps his arms around his younger sibling, hugging him close. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," Hiro answers, hugging him back just as tightly.

When they do finally break apart, the younger boy says in a more optimistic tone, "The good news is, we do still have all of your old stuff-we couldn't really stand to throw any of it out so we put it all in boxes in the attic. I'll start bringing them down as soon as possible, and maybe we can set you up in the guest bedroom for now? I'm determined that I'm going to get you walking again, but until then you can finally have your own bedroom after all these years of having to put up with sharing with me, right?"

"I never minded sharing with you," Tadashi reassures him with a warm smile. "But thank you. I'll do what I can to help, but-"

"Oh, trust me, I'm still going to be keeping you plenty busy!" Hiro answers with a playful grin. "It may not be exactly the same, but I'm not going to let you turn into a slacker just 'cause you're in a chair!"

As harsh as that might have sounded to some people, it's exactly what Tadashi needed-a reassurance that he was still needed and that he was going to be treated like a person, not an invalid who needed to be pitied. "Bring it, little bro," he says with a slight grin. "When I'm finally used to this thing, you're going to be doing good to be able to keep up with me!"

"You and GoGo can have races to see who's faster!" Hiro laughs, all the tension that might have still been there between them released by their playful banter.

"H-How are the others?" Tadashi asks softly once they finally stop laughing. "I know I asked about Fred, but the other guys…?"

"They're doing pretty okay," Hiro answers with a warm smile. "They all graduated last year. GoGo opened her own bike shop while Honey Lemon's working on getting her Phd in chemistry. Oh, and they're engaged now!"

"They're _engaged?!_ " Tadashi cries, eyes going wide. "Last time I saw them they had just started dating!"

"Don't worry, I'm sure that Honey Lemon will have no problem taking you through three years' worth of pictures from all their dates!" Hiro chuckles.

"I think I'd like that, actually," Tadashi answers with a warm smile. "And Wasabi?"

"Got a job working a Krei Tech, actually," Hiro admits. "It was kind of hard for him to accept their offer when they saw his final Senior project, considering everything that had happened with them, but we knew that it would be his dream job so we all got together and convinced him to go for it!"

"I'm glad you did." Tadashi smiles at that. "He deserves to be happy."

"He does," Hiro agrees, seeming glad that his older brother wasn't upset by the news.

"How about you?" Tadashi asks softly. "It's been three years, that must mean-Oh my gosh, you're a Senior!"

"Yeah, I am," Hiro admits with a slight smile. "I'll be starting back up again at the end of this month, and I'm actually thinking about going on to get my Phd, or at least a masters. As long as the university keeps giving me scholarships and grants, might as well see how far I can go, right? ...What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I am so insanely proud of you," Tadashi answers, knowing that he was probably grinning like a sentimental idiot but not able to bring himself to care. "To think that you used to only want to be a bot fighter and now you're getting ready to graduate…?"

"Well, I think I kind of traded bot fighting for superhero work danger-wise," Hiro chuckles, seeming embarrassed but pleased by his brother's approval. "But yeah… I'm still ridiculously grateful to you for that night that you dragged me into that Nerd Lab and finally got my head on straight."

"I just wish I could have been there to see it all…" Tadashi sighs wistfully before adding, "And now you're actually ahead of me! I'm going to have to work super hard to get caught back up!"

"Don't push yourself too hard!" Hiro tells him with a sternly playful look. "You can't rush a good education!"  
"Oh my gosh, now even you're starting to sound like me… Are you sure you're not the older brother now?" Tadashi says with a tiny smirk.

"Nope, that's always going to be you, bro, no matter what," Hiro answers, grinning back at him.

"Good." Tadashi can't help but smile at that, glad that, even with all of this craziness, he was still the man his little brother looked up to. He had his reputation as a nii-chan to uphold, after all!

The two were lapsing into another one of their comfortable silences where they just smiled at each other, not needing any words and drawing comfort from each other's presence, when suddenly there's the sound of knocking on the door.

"Who's that?" Tadashi asks curiously.

"Holy-Oh my gosh, I totally forgot!" Hiro cries.

"Forgot what?"

"Fred was supposed to come over today-with everything that's happened, it completely slipped my mind!"

"F-Fred?" Tadashi was both extremely eager to see his boyfriend and curious as to why he'd be coming for a visit.

"H-He's kind of been insisting on taking me out to do stuff about once a week or so," Hiro admits. "When he finally told me about you and him, well… He knew how much I was missing you and so he said he'd be my adopted nii-chan if I wanted him to."

"He did that?" Tadashi gasps, feeling a huge surge of gratitude towards his boyfriend.

"Yeah…" Hiro agrees hesitantly. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Mind? Why would I mind?"

"I don't want you thinking I was trying to replace you or anything!"

"Oh, Hiro, of course not! I'm just glad that you had someone looking out for you like that!"

"Okay, good!" Hiro flashes him a relieved smile before saying slowly, "So… Um, are you okay with him coming in? I mean, if you're not ready yet, I can totally ask him to come back another time!"

"N-No," Tadashi answers after thinking it over for a moment. "I want to see him. And besides, the longer I put it off the more I'll probably overthink it and psych myself out, y'know?"

"True," Hiro agrees. "So, you're sure you're okay with letting him in?"

"Definitely," Tadashi replies firmly.

"Okay then. I'll probably try to explain to him what's going on first, if that's okay, just so he doesn't end up in shock or anything."

"That's probably a good plan!" Tadashi chuckles before urging him to go answer the door as the fanboy's knocking becomes more insistent.

"Took you long enough!" Tadashi couldn't help but feel his heart speed up slightly as he hears his boyfriend's (well, hopefully still his boyfriend!) voice, playfully bantering as usual. It was just a tiny bit deeper than he'd remembered it, but it was still definitely his Fred.

"Hey, Fred…" Tadashi smirks slightly at his younger brother's poor attempt at sounding casual-the kid still couldn't act to save his life.

"Is everything okay?" Fred's voice again, sounding concerned this time. "You sound exhausted-did you stay up all night inventing again?"

"I didn't!" Hiro protests before admitting, "It was just a… Very long night."

"Long night…? Oh, Hiro, are the nightmares back again?" Fred asks softly.

Wait, nightmares? Tadashi instantly feels slight alarm at that. Hiro hadn't said anything about nightmares! It made sense that he'd have them, all thing considered (Tadashi had to suspect that he himself would be having them for a while) but still!

"No, it wasn't the nightmares," Hiro answers honestly. "Or… I mean, I guess you could say I was kind of reliving the events of the fire, but in a way that might sound slightly insane…"

"Hiro, you're not making much sense- HOLY SHIT."

Tadashi winces when he realizes that, in his attempt to covertly get a look at his boyfriend, he'd actually managed to roll into his line of sight.

"Y-Yeah," Hiro says, realizing that the time for tact was over and swinging the door all the way open so that the two could actually see each other properly. "Guess who's back?"

Fred just stares at Tadashi for a full minute, mouth hanging open and seeming completely frozen. Tadashi, for his part, was drinking in the sight of the other man, trying to figure out what was the same and what was different. To his great relief Fred had remained pretty much unchanged. His hair was a bit longer and it looked like he'd swapped covering it with beanie for just keeping it back in a neat ponytail. There was a bit of scruff on his face that looked like an attempt at growing a beard or a goatee, although he didn't seem to be having much luck on that front. And his deep blue eyes were a lot more serious than he remembered. But as the man looks him over, the realization seeming to dawn on him that Tadashi was actually right there in front of him, alive and mostly in one piece, some of the old light comes back into them, along with what Tadashi could only hope were happy tears.

"D-Dashi…" the fanboy finally breathes. "H-How-?"

"Hey, Fred," Tadashi answers softly, giving him the most confident smile he can muster, still not sure how his boyfriend was taking all of this-was he actually happy to see him, or was that all wishful thinking?

Moments later, he had his answer, because Fred finally seems to snap out of his daze and practically bolts down the hallway, wrapping his arms tightly around his boyfriend and pulling Tadashi into probably the most passionate kiss he'd ever experienced. The elder Hamada finds his eyelids fluttering closed and a soft moan escaping his mouth, not caring how ridiculously corny he was probably acting, unable to think about anything but the man he loved who was kissing him like he was never going to stop.

"I-I can't believe you're actually here," Fred says softly when they finally have to break for air, barely even pulling away, his hands gently trailing over the other man's features, as if needing the physical reassurance that he was actually there and that he wasn't just imagining things.

"M-Me neither," Tadashi admits, his lips still humming with the sweet taste of his boyfriend.

"H-How…?" Fred starts to ask and then trails off again, his hands cradling Tadashi's cheek. Finally he shakes his head and says, "You know what? I don't care. All that matters is that you're here now."

Tadashi wanted to explain, but he was honestly too caught up in just starting into his boyfriend's eyes, unable to believe now that he was seeing him closer just how handsome he'd gotten over these past years. He'd always been handsome, of course, but now… Wow.

"There was kind of a time traveling incident last night," Hiro puts in helpfully. "Don't ask how, but I ended up getting pulled back in time to the night of the Expo and I kind of saved Dashi!"

"W-Wait, you did what?" Fred quietly gasps. "H-Hold on, so you stopped the fire from happening?"

"No, the fire definitely still happened," Hiro clarifies. "I actually ended up right in the middle of it. But I found Dashi and I realized I couldn't exactly just take him back to the me of that time period 'cause that would majorly mess with the whole space-time continuum and all that, so… I brought him back here!"

"Wait, so you're the you from the past?" Fred asks, looking down at Tadashi for clarification.

"I… Guess so?" Tadashi answers awkwardly, concerned by the tone in his boyfriend's voice. "I mean… I'm still nineteen, if that's what you mean. I'm literally the exact same person I was when you last saw me…I-Is that a problem?"

"A problem? Oh, Dashi, no!" Fred immediately leans in and tenderly kisses his cheek. "I know that you're probably just still dealing with all of the craziness of being in the future! I swear, I'm going to do everything I can to help get you caught up on all the superhero movies and stuff that you missed, okay? I mean, you missed two new Star Wars movies! We have so many nerd movies and shows to binge watch together!"

"Sounds like that could make a few good date nights!" Tadashi chuckles, relieved to find that Fred didn't seem to mind their current age difference and was actually still his old nerdy fanboy self after all these years.

"Y-You do still want to date me, then?" Fred asks softly, if a bit nervously. "I-I know that I'm older now, and I probably should have asked before kissing you, but-"

"Fred, of course I still want to date you!" Tadashi tightly squeezes his hand. "Why wouldn't I? I-I love you…"

The look on the other man's face made it look like Christmas had just come early. "I love you too, Dashi," he says softly before pulling him into another passionate kiss.

"Okay guys, really?" Hiro groans quietly, although it was clear that he wasn't really upset. "Do you have to do this right here in front of me?"

"Jealous?" Tadashi tosses playfully back when he finally breaks away from Fred.

"Hardly." Hiro rolls his eyes but appears to be fighting a smile as he says, "I'm going to go upstairs and try to find some of Dashi's stuff in the attic so you can have some 'alone time' or whatever. Just try to get all of this romance stuff out of your systems before I get back, okay?"

"Sounds good!" Tadashi agrees, flashing his brother a grateful smile.

"So…" he continues with a slight grin, turning back to his boyfriend as soon as the younger boy is safely up the stairs. "Any ideas about what you want to do while we're alone?"

"I might…" Fred agrees, his hands playfully travelling down to his boyfriend's hips. "Is there any chance that you're able to get out of that chair at all?"

"If you helped me, I could," Tadashi answers with a grin. "And apparently I'm going to be getting the guest bedroom all to myself for now, so if you wanted to go somewhere private…"

"Sounds perfect!" Fred beams and reaches down to carefully lift his boyfriend up into his arms.

"You got strong while I was away!" Tadashi laughs, wrapping his arms around the other man's neck as he starts to carry him down the hall.

"Being a superhero will do that to you," Fred answers playfully, looking pleased by the compliment.

"Hiro told me about that," Tadashi says, grinning up at him. "You're going to have to tell me all of your stories!"

"Oh, all in good time," Fred promises playfully as they reach the guest bedroom, carefully closing and locking the door behind them before carrying his boyfriend over to the bed. "All in good time."


	5. Chapter 5

About half an hour later, Tadashi was lying next to his boyfriend, heart still racing but feeling completely content to have the man he loved cuddling him close. The truth was that he'd been a bit worried when they'd begun-this was his first time doing it since the accident (obviously), and he wasn't sure if everything was even still working right, let alone how not being able to use his legs would affect things. Fortunately he found that everything involved in what they were doing was, in fact, very much in order. As for his legs, instead of appearing frustrated with the fact that Tadashi wasn't able to participate as much as he had in the past, considering he couldn't really move them, Fred was being even sweeter and more loving than he'd been in the past, if that was possible-asking every step of the way if Tadashi was okay, gently helping him get undressed. It was obvious just how much Fred cared for and adored him, and it was probably the most amazing thing Tadashi had ever experienced.

"I love you so much," he whispers after a few minutes of contented cuddling, turning as best he could to smile at his boyfriend.

"I love you too," Fred answers, placing a tender kiss on his cheek. "So much. I-I can't believe I actually have you back after all this time…"

"I know." Tadashi nuzzles up against him. "I-It's still hard for me to imagine that I was gone for three whole years…"

"That doesn't matter now," Fred says firmly. "What matters is that I have you back. I don't care about the last three years, we should focus on right now."

"I guess…" Tadashi agrees, wishing that he could actually shift himself properly so that he could be facing his boyfriend. Seeming to sense his request, Fred carefully helps him turn over, and the younger man smiles gratefully at him before continuing, "As much as not thinking about the pain is good, I don't want you thinking that everything you've done and accomplished over the last three years isn't important just because I wasn't there."  
"True…" Fred agrees with a slight smile. "You always know just the right thing to say, don't you?"

"It's a gift!" Tadashi chuckles before lightly squeezing his hands. "Now c'mon! Tell me everything."

And tell him Fred did-about joining Big Hero 6 (7, now); about his experiences at SF State, where he went to college; about starting to write his first actual novel.

"It's a fantasy adventure story. The hero ends up in this other world after stumbling through a portal in the basement of his university's library, and while he's trying to get back home he ends up falling in love with the prince who's helping him find his way back," Fred tells Tadashi with a grin as he lets his boyfriend play with his ponytail (it was pretty obvious that it was a change in the fanboy's appearance that the elder Hamada was definitely enjoying.) "Not gonna lie, I was kind of basing them on us."

"Oh my gosh, that's so sweet!" Tadashi beams at him and gently pecks him on the nose.

"I'm glad you approve!" Fred beams back at him.

"So, am I the college student or the prince?"

"Oh, the prince, of course!"

"Aw!" Tadashi pecks him on the lips this time. "So I'm your prince charming?"

"You know you are," Fred answers, letting his hand trail over his boyfriend's thigh and making him shiver slightly-even if the elder Hamada couldn't feel anything in his legs, just knowing that's where the other man's hand was placed was enough to still be majorly turning him on.

"You're mine too," Tadashi huskily whispers.

"I'm glad." Fred leans in to press a passionate kiss to his lips before saying softly, "I never, ever want to lose you again."

"You won't," Tadashi promises.

"I know." Fred wraps his arms around his boyfriend's waist. "Still… All these years… I always hated myself for never getting the chance… To make things more permanent between us."

"P-Permanent?" Tadashi repeats, feeling his heart heart flutter in his chest.

"Yeah." Fred smiles shyly over at him. "There's so many times I imagined what it would be like if I'd still had you with me… What our future would have been like together… And now that I have you back, I want to make sure that I don't miss out on that chance again."

"F-Freddy… I-I..." As sweet and exciting as this all was, this was all moving so fast-too fast.

"I'm sorry," Fred apologizes, seeing the wide-eyed expression on his boyfriend's face. "I guess I've had three whole years to think about this, but for you we've only been dating for about a year…"

"It's okay," Tadashi hurries to reassure him. "I-I know that someday I want that for us. I want all of it-getting married, starting a family. There's no one I'd rather do that with. But my family just got me back. I haven't even seen all of our friends yet, and there's so much I have to get used to…"

"I get it." Fred tenderly kisses his forehead. "We'll take things as slow or fast as you want. Just knowing that you want that for us too someday is more than enough for me."

"Yeah?" Tadashi smiles up at him, relieved that he wasn't more upset.

"Absolutely," Fred agrees with a warm smile. "I love you, and I'd never want to try to force you into anything you're not ready for."

"Thank you…" Tadashi breathes, nuzzling up against him again. "You are the best boyfriend ever."

"I'm pretty sure that you already have the title claimed, but thank you," Fred answers with a warm chuckle.

Tadashi was just about to respond when suddenly there's the sound of loud knocking on the door.

"Okay, I let you guys have your alone time, but I've got almost all of the boxes down here now," Hiro shouts through the door. "I'm giving you five minutes to get decent and then I'm coming in there whether you're stark naked or not."

"Someone got a lot less shy over the past three years," Tadashi laughs as Fred helps him sit up and start finding his clothes.

"I guess going through puberty will do that to you," Fred chuckles as he helps his boyfriend back into his shorts and pants.

"I guess so," Tadashi agrees before adding, "Is it bad that I'm glad that it looks like Hiro never got quite as tall as me?"

"Oh, trust me, I think we were all rooting for him to stay adorable and small," Fred chuckles. "We thought Ezra was going to stay that way too, but about six months ago he started really shooting up. Hiro's a bit pissed about that, but they're making it work, fortunately."

"Ezra-that's Hiro's boyfriend, right?" Tadashi says slowly.

"Oh, so he told you about him?" Fred asks.

"A little bit…" Tadashi answers slowly. "What can you tell me about him?"

"He's a really good kid, if that's what you're worried about," Fred tells him with a slight smile as he starts getting dressed himself.

"Who said I was worried?" Tadashi protests.

"Your face says it all," Fred chuckles, coming over to lightly peck him on the cheek. "You really don't need to be worried about him. Hiro picked someone really special, and, working with him on Big Hero 7, I've seen time and time again what a kind, selfless person he is."

"That's good," Tadashi sighs, allowing himself to relax slightly. He trusted his boyfriend's judgment.

"I still want to meet him, though, just so I can see for myself," he admits as he waits for Fred to finish getting dressed.

"Of course you do." Fred comes over to peck him on the cheek. "You wouldn't be you if you weren't trying to look out for your little brother."

"Yeah." Tadashi smiles up at him.

"Okay, I'm actually coming in this time!" Hiro's voice comes from the other side of the door, interrupting their conversation yet again.

"It's okay, we're both decent!" Fred reassures him.

"Good." Hiro sounds slightly relieved in spite of himself as he pushes the door open.

"Okay, so, how do we want to do this?" he asks as he comes over to the bed and puts the box he was carrying down on the end of it. "I mean, clothes and stuff obviously go in the closet and dresser, and I've lived with Tadashi long enough to know how he likes that stuff put away, but the rest of it…"

"I guess we could bring the boxes over and let Dashi go through them and then tells us where he wants the stuff at?" Fred suggests.

"I think that might be the best plan for now," Tadashi agrees, trying not to sigh too loudly. Not being able to walk royally sucked, but they were just going to have to get creative.

"C'mon, let's get started on making this room feel like home for Dashi!" Hiro declares, and something about his enthusiasm made the older man laugh and begin to feel at least a little better about things.

The next few hours were spent hard at work, organizing and setting up the room. Tadashi found that he was so busy sorting through boxes that he didn't feel left out of things at all, and he was actually having a lot of fun with the way Hiro and Fred kept him talking and laughing. His boyfriend even put on a playlist of 80's songs at one point and managing to cajole the others into singing the choruses of the cheesily inspirational rock ballads with him (although shortly after that Hiro switched them over to Fall Out Boy because he said if he was going to be singing, he was going to be singing the good stuff!)

Around 2 pm Aunt Cass arrived in the room with lunch for all of them-she had been forced to return to the cafe almost as soon as Tadashi had gotten home due to the fact that she was short handed for the day, but she wanted to check in and see how her eldest nephew was doing. It was her visit that ended up resulting in things quickly snowballing for the rest of the day.

"Tadashi, sweetie," she says as she helps him set up his tray on the bed, "I know you just got back, but I was wondering if you were planning on inviting the rest of your friends over later? If you're not ready yet, I completely understand! I just wanted to know if I should plan on making dinner for everyone."

"Oh… Wow, um, I actually hadn't thought about that," Tadashi admits-in the back of his mind he knew that he needed and really wanted to see the others, but he hadn't exactly sat down and thought about how he was going to do it.

"You don't have to do it yet," Hiro reassures him. "You've had a lot to deal with all in one day, I know you're probably pretty tired. If you want to just rest for the evening, that is totally fine!"

"I think…. I think maybe I honestly would like to see everyone tonight, if possible," Tadashi admits. "It's kind of like what I said with Fred-the longer I put it off, the more I'll psych myself out thinking about it. Besides, it's been three years, I think they deserve to know that I'm back, right?"

"Only if you're sure you want to do this," Fred says firmly, putting a gentle hand on his boyfriend's shoulder.

"I'm positive," Tadashi replies, gently reaching up to squeeze it. Honestly, he was starting to feel a bit excited about the idea, or at least a bit curious. How might all the others have changed over the years?

"All right then, I guess we have some phone calls to make!" Hiro says with a grin.

" _After_ you eat!" Aunt Cass says firmly, swatting her nephew's hand as he starts to reach for his phone. "I'm not going to let you get distracted and forget to eat like you two have a habit of doing!"

"I always eat while I'm working!" Hiro protests.

"Gummy bears and junk food do not count as real food," Aunt Cass answers sternly.

"We promise to finish eating before we make any phone calls," Tadashi quickly puts in before the old argument between his aunt and little brother about whether gummy bears counted as food or not started up again.

"Good." Aunt Cass smiles and gently pats his shoulder before excusing herself to go check on the cafe again.

True to his word, Tadashi made sure that everyone finished eating before allowing any phone calls to be made. All of them were too excited and/or nervous to be able to really focus on food, but he did his best to make sure that everyone got at least something in their systems regardless.

"Okay, are we done?" Hiro asks when he had finally finished all of the soup in his bowl.

"I guess so," Tadashi agrees, deciding that he'd let the uneaten crackers slide.

"Awesome!" Hiro instantly pounces on his phone. "Who do we call first?"

"We could try a group video conference, see how many of the others we can get on the line so we can do it all at once," Fred suggests.

"Ooh, I like it!" Hiro agrees. "Dashi, that okay with you?"

"Let's go for it!" Tadashi answers with a slightly nervous grin.

"I'll try Honey Lemon first, she usually has her phone with her," Hiro says, starting to dial.

As he predicted, he got Honey Lemon after only a few rings. To make things even easier for them, GoGo was with her since they were out having lunch, so they only had to ask her to hold on 'til they could get Wasabi on the line too. They managed to get him about a minute later, and then they had everyone.

"Hiro, not to be rude, but I hope that this is something important-I'm kind of in the middle of work and I don't want to get in trouble," Wasabi says softly, obviously trying to keep his voice low.

"Sorry," Hiro apologizes, wincing when he realizes that he probably should have thought things through better. "But I promise this is super important! I've got some super amazing news, guys!"

"Ooh, tell us, Hiro!" Honey Lemon says eagerly.

"Yeah, don't leave us hanging," GoGo agrees.

"Okay, I'm not sure how to tell you this except to just say it… Tadashi's back!" Hiro tells them, unable to keep a huge grin from spreading across his face.

His words were met my complete and total silence, which was honestly to be expected, all things considered. Honey Lemon was the one who finally broke it.

"H-Hiro, a-are you serious?" she whispers.

Hiro was about to say, "Dead serious", but realizing how inappropriate that might be, he quickly switches to, "Totally and completely serious! Dashi, do you want to say hi?"

Tadashi was a bit nervous, but he nods in confirmation.

"H-Hey guys," he says, smiling and waving a bit awkwardly as Hiro points the phone's camera towards him. Even though he could see his friends' faces on the screen, the images were so tiny that he couldn't really see many details. Oh well, he could figure out what of their appearances had changed when he hopefully saw them later.

"OH MY GOSH, TADASHI!" Honey Lemon cries, her happy squeal almost ear-piercing.

"H-How?!" GoGo sputters, an utterly flabbergasted look on her face.

"I-Is that really you, man?" Wasabi gasps.

"It's really me," Tadashi reassures them with a warm chuckle, feeling his whole body relaxing, as if he'd been tense this entire time without even realizing it-his friends sounded almost exactly like he remembered them, and they were obviously happy to see him, meaning that most if not all of his fears had been completely unfounded. "I-It's kind of a long story," he admits in response to GoGo's question.

"We thought that it might be better to tell it in person," Hiro adds in, leaning over so that he could be in the picture again. "Do you guys think you can come over tonight, maybe around five-ish?"

"Absolutely!" Honey Lemon agrees eagerly.

"Definitely," Wasabi answers with a firm nod.

"We'll be there," GoGo promises before adding with a wry smile, "I wouldn't miss hearing this story for anything!"

"All right then, we have our plan!" Hiro says with a grin. "We'll see you tonight!"

"Okay," Wasabi agrees, waving and smiling before ending his side of the phone call so that he wouldn't get caught using his phone during work.

"We can't wait to see you, Dashi!" Honey Lemon says, beaming.

"Try not to disappear again on us before we can get there, okay?" GoGo adds with a wry smile.

"Oh, trust me, I'm not going anywhere," Tadashi promises, deciding not to comment on the irony of his words just then-there was time enough for them to find out about his legs that night.

"Okay then! Bye!" Honey Lemon giggles and blows a kiss, her standard "goodbye" for phone calls, before hanging up.

"Well, that went well!" Hiro says, grinning over at his brother.

"Yeah, it did," Tadashi agrees, smiling up at him in relief before glancing around at his room. "So, I guess we should get back to work until they get here?"

"Maybe taking a little break so you can get some energy back up before tonight might be a good idea," Hiro answers gently.

"I guess you're right," Tadashi admits, realizing that, as much as he wanted to keep being productive, his brother had a good point. Still, even though he was willing to admit that to himself, he didn't want to sleep. He hated taking naps in the middle of the day-they always felt so weird and he always felt worse after them, not better.

"How about we have Baymax give you a quick scan to see how you're doing, and then maybe we can bring you out to the living room and put on a movie or something," Hiro suggests gently, seeing his brother's reluctance.

"That sounds good," Tadashi agrees, smiling up at him.

Hiro brought the nursebot in and, after a thorough scan, Baymax administers another dose of the pain meds (the last one was about to run out) and reapplies the cream for the burns before declaring Tadashi safe for moving. The robot even offers to carry his creator into the living room so that they didn't have to bother with the chair and, given how much it seemed like he sincerely wanted to be of use, Tadashi allows it. He knew that he needed to get used to getting around on his own but he just couldn't turn down the robot's well-meant offer when he sounded so hopeful. He made sure to sincerely thank the nurse bot for everything he'd done once he was safely settled on the couch next to Fred before telling him that he was extremely satisfied with his care and letting him return to his charger.

"So, what do you want to watch?" Hiro asks his brother, unable to keep from smirking slightly at the sight of the older man with his head resting in his boyfriend's lap.

"Well… What's something new that came out while I was gone that you think I should see?" Tadashi asks, smirking playfully back-it was becoming easier to just say that he had been "gone" instead of continually thinking about the whole time travel thing.

"There are a lot of movies," Hiro admits with a chuckle.

"Maybe something Disney or PIXAR?" Tadashi suggests, deciding that something lighthearted would probably be a good idea.

"Wow, again, there's a lot!" Hiro chuckles. "But let me try to narrow it down… If we don't count the acted out ones, in order, there's _Inside Out_ , _Zootopia_ , _Finding Dory_ , and _Moana_ , although I don't think that one's on DVD yet, and _Cars 3_ is still in theaters…."

"That is a lot," Tadashi admits. "Um, maybe let's start out with the first one, _Inside Out_ ," he suggests-he'd actually seen trailers for that film.

"Sounds good!" Hiro agrees, heading to go find the disc.

"I'll warn you, it's a bit of a tearjerker," Fred whispers to his boyfriend.

"It's a tearjerker?" Tadashi asks in surprise. "What, does someone die?"

"...I'm not sure I can say," Fred answers. "I'll... just have the kleenex ready, okay?"

"Okay…" Tadashi agrees, feeling a bit hesitant about watching the movie now but deciding to just go with it.

About an hour and a half later, Fred's prediction had come true and Tadashi found himself sniffling into a kleenex while his boyfriend soothingly rubbed his shoulders.

"W-Why did he have to die? I-I mean, I saw it coming, he's an imaginary friend, but _why_?!" the elder Hamad cries.

"Because Disney has apparently decided that it likes to feast upon our tears and so uses every opportunity it can to stab us straight through the heart," Hiro deadpans, looking a little teary-eyed himself, although he was doing his best to hide it.

"So help me, if someone dies in _Zootopia_ …"

"Don't worry, that one's safe," Fred hurries to reassure him.

"Good." Tadashi was able to smile at that.

He was just about to ask about the other movies (not sure that he completely wanted to know but deciding that it would be better to be prepared) when suddenly his younger brother's phone starts going off, playing the _Star Wars_ theme.

"Oh, sorry, let me get this real quick!" Hiro apologizes, pausing the movie and pulling out his phone. "Hello?" he answers it, a warm glow like Tadashi had never seen before crossing his features. "Hey, Ez! ...Oh man, I'm sooo sorry I didn't get back to you last night! Things got pretty crazy around here! ...No, I didn't get distracted playing _Kingdom Hearts_ again! I wouldn't miss calling you before bed because of something like that and you know it! ...Okay, apology accepted! ...What happened? Well… Okay, I'm not sure how to tell you this, and it's kind of a long story, but you know my brother, Tadashi? ...Well, he's back!" There's a long pause and then Hiro lets out a quiet laugh, grinning as he glances over at his elder sibling. "Yeah, I know, it's crazy! ...Yes, you have no idea… Oh, Ez, you don't have to hang up! ...Yeah, I know I should be spending time with him right now…"

Tadashi starts waving to get his little brother's attention, and Hiro quickly excuses himself from the phone conversation before pressing the device to his chest to muffle their conversation and asking, "What's up? You okay?"

"You should invite him over!" Tadashi answers.

"R-Really?" Hiro seems surprised by his brother's words.

"Definitely!" Tadashi agrees with a warm smile. "I totally want to meet your boyfriend!" He adds playfully, "Have to make sure he's worthy of my otouto, right?"

Hiro rolls his eyes but seems to be smiling slightly before asking, "Are you sure you're okay with this? I mean, I know there are already a lot of people coming over…"

"Yes, it's fine!" Tadashi reassures him.

"Okay then." Hiro grins over at him before putting his phone back to his ear, "Hey, Ez? ...Yeah, sorry for that! My bro wanted to talk to me for a second-he was wondering if you wanted to come over tonight so he could meet you! ...Yeah, it was his idea, and he's being pretty insistent about it!"

Tadashi playfully sticks his tongue out at his little brother, who returns the gesture before continuing, "No, trust me, you won't be 'interrupting' anything, all the others are coming over too so it'll just be the whole team getting together! ...Yeah, things should be starting around five, is that okay? ...Alright, awesome! ...Okay, I'll see you then! ...Yeah, love you too!"

Tadashi does his best not to grin when he sees his little brother gently pecking the phone's screen before hanging up.

"What?" Hiro gives him a slight glare when he sees the other man's expression.

"You really like him, don't you?" Tadashi says softly.

"Y-Yeah, I do," Hiro admits, ducking his head slightly in embarrassment but smiling all the same.

"I'm happy for you, otouto," Tadashi tells him with a warm smile.

"You are?" Hiro flashes him a cautious if somewhat grateful look.

"Of course!" Tadashi replies. "You deserve to be happy, and if Ezra makes you happy, then I am in complete and total support of you guys!"

"T-Thanks…" Hiro mumbles, blushing bright pink before reaching for the remote. "L-Let's just get back to the movie, huh?"

"Okay," Tadashi answers, deciding to let it go for now but unable to keep from smiling as he watches his little brother settling back into his chair to watch the ending of the film, a contented glow still visible on his features. The older man had never seen his otouto this happy, and he could only be grateful that, with the hellish three years the teen had just been through, he'd been able to find someone who could make him smile like that.


	6. Chapter 6

After _Inside Out_ ended, the guys considered starting another movie but realized that they should probably get Tadashi ready for the party in the half an hour they had left. After all, he was still in the clothes he'd worn to the Expo and hadn't showered since then, so getting him cleaned up seemed like a good idea. Hiro volunteered to go pick out some clothes for Tadashi and get them de-wrinkled from storage while Fred tackled the shower. Fortunately the downstairs bathroom had a walk-in shower stall which made it possible to wheel Tadashi directly in and, after doing some online research, they brought in a foldable plastic chair which Fred helped Tadashi onto before assisting him in getting undressed (eventually Tadashi would hopefully be able to learn to do all of this on his own, but for today, at least, he was willing to accept some help for the sake of time.) Once he was situated with all the soap and shampoo within reaching distance, Fred wheels the chair out to allow him to shower in private, promising to be in the next room within hearing distance in case Tadashi ended up needing some help.

Tadashi was grateful for his minutes alone in the shower-he'd had other people hovering around him from the moment he'd woken up, and it was nice to have a moment just to be alone with his own thoughts. Well, not that he was trying to think too much right now-eventually he'd have to start fully coming to terms with all of this, but he'd been working through enough hard emotions as it was today and so instead of thinking he just allows himself to get lost in the soft sound of the water gently falling down around him, letting the warm stream to just flow comfortingly over him for a minute before getting to work on scrubbing himself down.

The sound of the water turning off was Fred's cue to come back in, and by the time he enters Tadashi was already toweling himself off as best he could. The younger man allows his boyfriend to help him get dressed in the fresh clothes that Hiro had picked out for him (they smelled vaguely of mothballs, and he makes a mental note to see about doing some laundry tomorrow even though he could handle the smell for the sake of tonight) before being moved back into his wheelchair. He insists on rolling himself out of the bathroom and back to the living room, though, determined to start learning how to have some mobility in this thing.

"Looking good, bro!" Hiro says with approval when he sees his brother entering the room.

"Thanks," Tadashi chuckles. "And if you're looking for a compliment on how you picked out the perfect clothes for this occasion, yes, you did an awesome job, little bro." Not that anyone could go far wrong with his wardrobe given he dressed mostly in neutral, earth-toned colors, but he was willing to let his little brother have some credit-it was nice being able to do anything he could to make his little brother smile again.

Hiro looked like he was about to reply when suddenly there was the sound of someone knocking on the door.

"Oh, I'll get it!" he cries, hurrying down the hallway.

Tadashi chuckles slightly before maneuvering his chair so that he could see the doorway in hopes of seeing which one of their friends had arrived first. Instead of seeing a familiar face, though, he was met by the sight of a stranger-a stranger who was obviously not a stranger to his little brother, though.

"Ez!" Tadashi could have sworn Hiro's entire body light up like a lamp that been plugged into a socket as he throws his arms around the man standing on the landing.

"Well, hello to you too," the man-apparently Ezra-answers, gently hugging Hiro back and grinning down at him too.

"Hello, Hiro." There was another man, about the same height as Ezra, also standing on the landing, Tadashi discovered.

"Hi, Officer Jarrus!" Hiro answers, finally letting go and greeting the older man politely.

"My car's in the shop so Dad was nice enough to drop me off," Ezra explains.

"I just thought I'd come up and say hello-I haven't gotten to see much of you since Ezra got his license and started driving himself," Officer Jarrus answers with a warm chuckle.

"Sorry about that," Hiro apologizes, rubbing the back of his neck. "I've been pretty busy lately with different projects, but I promise I'll try to make it over there for Saturday night dinners more often!"

"I'm sure Hera would love that," Officer Jarrus answers with a warm smile before starting to turn to go. "Well, I'd better leave you two to it-"

"Oh, no, you should totally come in!" Hiro protests. "I want both of you to meet my brother!"

"Your brother…?" Officer Jarrus looks at him in surprise. "Wait, didn't you say that he died three years ago in the fire?"

"Sorry." Ezra flashes Hiro an apologetic look. "I didn't know how much you were okay with me telling him."

"I appreciate that." Hiro gives him a grateful smile before turning to the older man and saying, "It's kind of a long story, but he's back now!"

"Hiro, that's wonderful!" Officer Jarrus practically beams down at him. "I'm so happy for you, I know you must be thrilled! And if you don't mind, I'd love to get a chance to meet your brother."

"C'mon, then!" Hiro grins and practically starts dragging Ezra down the hallway with him, Officer Jarrus following behind them.

Tadashi wished that he could stand up to greet the visitors, but for obvious reasons he couldn't and so he just does his best to sit tall in the chair, Fred keeping an encouraging hand on his shoulder. At closer range, he was able to get a better picture of what Hiro's boyfriend looked like: about six inches taller than the younger teen and more broadly built, he had short, dark hair which Tadashi couldn't tell if it was actually a midnight blue or just looked that way under the lights. His expression was cheerful, if a bit guarded, as if he'd experienced some rough things in his past, and he might have seemed older than he actually was because of that if it hadn't been for his bright blue eyes, which somehow still gave him a youthful look.

"You must be Ezra," Tadashi says, giving him a warm, if somewhat cautious smile, trying to keep an open mind until he knew more about the teen.

"And you must be Tadashi," Ezra answers, smiling a bit nervously back at him and putting his hand out for a shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. Hiro's told me so much about you!"

"It's nice to meet you too," Tadashi answers, shaking his hand and taking his manners as a good sign. "I wish I could say that I've heard a lot about you too, but I kind of just got back today, so I'm still trying to get caught up on everything…"

"Completely understandable!" Ezra looked like he wanted very much to ask how Tadashi had suddenly reappeared but was too polite to try to press for details-another good sign in his favor.

"There was kind of a time traveling incident last night and I managed to save him from the fire and bring him back here," Hiro explains for his boyfriend's benefit.

"Time travelling-Oh my gosh, Hiro, are you okay?" Ezra cries, his hands instinctively moving to protectively rest on his boyfriend's shoulders.

"Yes, I'm fine!" Hiro answers, waving aside his concerns. "It was just one of the portals on Akuma Island acting up!"

"Why didn't you call for backup? You could have been hurt!"

"I had Baymax with me!"

"And he let you go through a portal?!"

"I kind of fell in…"

"And ended up inside a fire."

"...Yeah…"

"Did Baymax follow you in?"

"I don't think he exactly knew what happened to me…"

"I rest my case."

"All right, fine, I should have called for backup! But if I had waited for you guys I might not have been in time to save Dashi!"

"Okay, granted. Just promise me that next time you'll call me instead of going through a mysterious portal all by yourself, okay?"

"All right, all right, I will!" Hiro sighs.

"Thank you." Ezra leans down to gently peck Hiro on the forehead and the younger teen happily nuzzles into the contact.

That was pretty much all that Tadashi needed to see to make his judgement of Hiro's boyfriend. It was obvious that he cared a lot about the teen, and he wasn't just saying the words, he was actually willing to put out the effort to protect him. Tadashi's main goal in life ever since his parents had brought his otouto home from the hospital was to keep him safe, and if Ezra was as committed to that same goal as he seemed to be and made Hiro as happy as it looked like he did, then he had Tadashi's complete and total blessing.

"I guess I should probably introduce myself," Officer Jarrus says, seeing that the two teens were a bit distracted at the moment and doing his best to keep things from getting uncomfortable. "I'm Ezra's adopted father, Kanan Jarrus."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," Tadashi answers, shaking his hand.

"Please, you can just call me Kanan," Ezra's father tells him with a warm smile.

"Kanan, then," Tadashi agrees with a smile of his own before adding, "Thank you for looking out for my brother for me."

"It was our pleasure," Kanan tells him. "My wife and I feel like he's one of our own children. He's a bright young man, and he's been so good for Ezra-getting him to come out of his shell and helping him with his coursework. We were a bit worried about how Ez would do in college because he always struggled with making friends back in high school after everything he's been through, and being homeless for a few years without being able to go to school put him behind the others in his grade. But Hiro's been helping him every step of the way, and this is the happiest we've seen him in… Well, I don't know how long."

"This is the happiest I've seen Hiro in a long time too," Tadashi admits with a warm smile. And it was true-he'd never seen his little brother looking like this before, and he couldn't help but be glad for him.

"Well, I'd better be going," Kanan says finally, gesturing towards the door. "I have evening patrol and I can't be late."

"Oh, of course!" Tadashi hurries to reassure him. "It was very nice meeting you!"

"You too," Kanan answers before addressing his son. "Call me when you're ready to be picked up, okay?"

"All right," Ezra agrees, hugging his father before letting him go so that he could get to work.

As Kanan was leaving, two familiar women appear on the doorstep, and Tadashi can't help but grin as he can practically see the blonde one's eyes light up like fireworks when she spots him.

"TADASHI!" she cries at the top of her lungs, practically sprinting down the hallway. Moments later, he found himself being crushed in a raspberry-scented hug, but he couldn't bring himself to care that he was being squashed as he hugs the woman tightly back.

"Dashi, I can't believe you're actually here!" she squeals when she finally lets him go just enough so that she could get a good look at him and he could actually start breathing again.

"It's really, really good to see you again too!" Tadashi laughs, grinning up at her. She hadn't changed that much-same sparkling green eyes, same bright pink lipstick, even. She had cut her hair short, which was a bit disconcerting for a moment, but he guessed that as a scientist it was more practical that way and after really looking at it, he decides that it actually looks pretty cute. Then again, she could wear nothing but a paper bag and still make it look fabulous.

"Good to see you not pushing up daisies," GoGo tells him with a slight smirk as she come over to him, gently punching his arm-she also looked just about the same, although she'd shortened her already short hair to an undercut.

"Glad to be here," Tadashi answers fervently, pulling her into a playful hug which she quickly squirmed out of but he could tell she had enjoyed all the same.

"Oh my gosh, Tadashi…" Honey Lemon suddenly lets out a tiny gasp and Tadashi could tell that she'd finally realized why he hadn't stood up to greet them. " _Por Dios_! W-What happened…?"

"Getting hit by a falling beam in a burning building will do that to you," Tadashi answers wryly, trying to keep his tone light to keep things from getting too serious.

"A falling beam… Dashi, that's horrible!" Honey Lemon cries.

"Yeah, well… At least I'm alive, right?" Tadashi answers with a slight shrug. "Apparently I didn't even make it that far the first time, so I should be glad that I got a second chance thanks to Hiro."

"A second chance…? Tadashi, did that beam knock you on the head too?" GoGo asks, frowning in confusion. "Because you're not making any sense."

"It's a bit of a long story," Hiro says, coming over to them. "We should probably wait for Wasabi to get here so I don't have to retell it."

"Did someone say my name?"

"Sabi!" Tadashi grins when he sees the last of his friends coming down the hallway.

"You guys should really close that door, you know that? Someone could just walk right in here!" Wasabi says, a playfully serious look on his face.

"Like you? Tadashi answers, rolling his eyes playfully.

"Exactly!" Wasabi chuckles.

"C'mere!" Tadashi holds his arms out to his friend, and Wasabi, knowing what he wants, complies, coming over to pull him into a slightly crushing bear hug. If he had noticed Tadashi's wheelchair (and it was impossible that he hadn't), he didn't say anything about it, just saying softly in his friend's ear, "It's really, really good to see you, man."  
"You too," Tadashi answers, happily nuzzling against him.

"Okay, so will someone finally explain all of this to me?" GoGo asks when the two finally separate.

"All right, all right, now that everyone's here I can explain!" Hiro answers before launching into his rendition of the story. Admittedly to Tadashi it sounded like he might have been stretching the details a bit from the previous tellings, but, then again, he hadn't really been present or conscious for most of it so who was he to say?

When he was finally finished with the retelling, the others all just stood there in shocked silence. This time, GoGo was the one to finally break it.

"A portal? Really? How did you think that was even remotely safe?!" she cries, soundly whacking the teen on the side of the head.

"OW!" Hiro protests, rubbing the now sore spot. "I get it, everyone's pounded into my head that I shouldn't have gone near the thing! But Tadashi's alive because of it, so don't I get some credit for that?"

"Of course, Hiro," Honey Lemon hurries to reassure him. "We're all just worried about your safety!"

"Sure have a funny way of showing it…" Hiro quietly grumbles, flashing a glare at GoGo.

"How are you holding up with all of this?" Wasabi asks Tadashi, trying to prevent a full-on argument from breaking out.

"It's all a bit crazy," Tadashi admits. "But I think with some time to adjust I'll be able to get back into the swing of things. Being back with everyone is helping a lot, honestly. And maybe if you guys would be willing to help me get caught up on everything I missed these last three years…?"

"Of course we will, Dashi!" Honey Lemon answers firmly. "You're our best friend, we want to do everything we can to help you feel back at home here!"

"Absolutely," Wasabi agrees, gently squeezing the younger man's shoulder. "We're here for you, whatever you need."

"And if you ever want me to add some rocket thrusters to those wheels or something…" GoGo adds playfully.

"Thank you guys…" Tadashi grins up at them, a relieved grin on his face. "You have no idea how much that means to me…"

"See?" Fred gently squeezes his hand. "You had nothing to worry about."

"Why would you be worried?" Honey Lemon asks, eyes wide with confusion and concern.

"I mean… I did run into a burning building and leave you all to deal with… Everything that happened afterwards…" Tadashi mumbles.

"Oh for gosh sakes… Woman up!" GoGo soundly whacks him on the side of his head-apparently she was going two-for-two on physically knocking sense into both of the brothers that night. "You did something kind of stupid but well intentioned. It happened. You know I've done life-threatening stuff for much less noble causes and I've just been lucky enough that it hasn't caught up with me yet. So don't you dare go blaming yourself! You're back now and that's all we care about."

"O-Okay," Tadashi agrees, willing to take the soreness from the whacking given the reassurance that had come with it.

"We're so happy to have you back, Dashi," Honey Lemon adds, gently squeezing his hand.

"Thank you." Tadashi smiles up at her before smiling slightly and saying, "So… I heard that you two are engaged now! How exactly did that happen?"

"Well, that's a bit of a long story," GoGo admits with a tiny smirk even as Honey Lemon beams over at her.

"I have all the time in the world," Tadashi promises before looking around at the others and adding, "I want to hear _all_ of your stories!"

"Then get comfortable, 'cause I'm sure we all have a lot to tell you!" Fred chuckles, lovingly pecking him on the cheek.

"I can't wait," Tadashi answers, settling back into his chair and, for the first time since waking up that morning, feeling totally and completely home.


	7. Chapter 7

_Three years later..._

"Wow. Hiro, you look amazing!"

"You too, bro!" Hiro grins up at his older brother, his entire body seeming to be glowing. Tadashi knew that he probably looked about the same-it was a special day for them, after all.

"I can't believe that we're actually having a double wedding," Tadashi chuckles as he come over to straighten his brother's tie.

"I know, it's like something out of one of those cheesy chick flicks Aunt Cass loves," Hiro answers, playfully rolling his eyes but letting his brother fuss over him.

"That's probably why she suggested it," Tadashi answers with a wry smile, finally stepping back once he was content that his brother's appearance was as perfect as it was going to get.

"Yeah, but our boyfriend's choosing to propose to us at the same time in front of all our friends and family in the cafe probably didn't help!" Hiro laughs as he returns the favor before asking gently, "Your leg braces all good and charged up for today?"

"Definitely," Tadashi reassures him, gently tapping the robotic apparatuses that were hidden under the pants of his suit. "Trust me, with as much dancing and everything we're going to be expected to do today, I knew I'd need all the juice I could get!"

"True!" Hiro agrees with a quiet laugh. "Not that you're complaining about any of that."

"Oh, definitely not," Tadashi agrees with warm smile. "I've just got to try to keep all the different dances straights… Fred's and my first dance, the one with Aunt Cass… And of course my one with you."

"I don't think you're going to let anyone forget that one," Hiro answers with a small smirk. "I seriously hope that what you have planned isn't as cheesy as I'm dreading it to be."

"You'll just have to wait and see," Tadashi answers, winking playfully back at him.

"Oh my gosh, there are my two men!" Aunt Cass cries as she comes into their dressing room and coming over to pull them both into a tight hug.

"You both look so handsome!" she says when she finally pulls away, giving them a watery smile. "I can't believe you're both all grown up and getting married today… It seems like only yesterday I was taking you both to the park to play in the sandbox…"

"No tears today, Aunt Cass!" Hiro says firmly, even as he and Tadashi both gently kiss her on the cheek. "Tears are bad luck at a wedding!"

"I know, I know!" Aunt Cass laughs, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe her eyes. "I'm just so proud of both of you! I don't know what I'm going to do without having you two in the house to keep me company…"

"You'll have all those kittens to keep you busy!" Hiro reminds her, referring to the adorable litter of kittens that had been left in a box outside the cafe and their aunt hadn't had the heart to turn away-they were certainly making things interesting around the house and keeping Mochi on his toes in his old age.

"That's true!" Aunt Cass chuckles, smiling fondly as she thinks of them.

"And besides, we'll be coming by for plenty of visits," Tadashi promises. "Before you know it, there'll be grandkids for you to babysit and you won't have a moment of peace!"

"I'm looking forward to it!" Aunt Cass laughs before starting as the wedding march suddenly begins playing. "Oh, it's time! Are you ready?"

"Absolutely," Hiro answers with a grin as he takes her arm.

"I couldn't be more ready," Tadashi agrees as he takes her other one.

The church was absolutely beautiful-Honey Lemon had insisted on being in charge of all the decorations, and she'd done an amazing job. She'd also made the bridesmaid's dresses-a simple, purple sleeveless design with a knee-length skirt that complemented all of three of them (GoGo; Ezra's sister, Sabine; and herself) and matched the flowers. The three groomsmen (Wasabi and Ezra's two uncles, Zeb and Kallus) wore ties of a complementary shade of blue. All in all, she had done a wonderful job of tying everything together.

Still, in spite of all her hard work, the two brother's weren't paying attention to the decor of the chapel or the clothes-they were too focused on their husbands-to-be who had already walked down the aisle (Ezra with his mother, Hera, and Fred with his father) and were waiting for them at the altar. Both were practically bursting with joy as Aunt Cass, after a final kiss on the cheek each, lets them go and heads to her designated seat, leaving them standing next to the men they knew they were going to spend the rest of their lives with.

The service was simple but sweet. Fortunately for them, they'd found a pastor who was actually willing to perform the service for them and, knowing all four of them so well, managed to sneak in quite a number of well placed nerd references. If asked afterwards what any of them had been, however, none of the grooms could have remembered-they were too focused looking into their husbands' eyes, knowing without a doubt that this was where they were meant to be.

And then, before they knew it, it was time to exchange vows and rings, and moments later they were being declared "husband and husband" and "husband and husband". Hiro and Ezra's first kiss as a married couple was sweet and simple, completely wrapped up in each other's arms, while Fred insisted on dipping a laughing Tadashi down into their own dramatic but extremely sweet version of it.

Then there was the reception. Again, Honey Lemon had coordinated almost everything, which the guys had been more than happy to let her do (she'd had enough experience with her own wedding two years back.) She hadn't actually coordinated the food-Tadashi had originally advocated for traditional Japanese wedding foods, but Hiro had put his foot down when they'd started actually looking into it, saying that just because his brother liked tradition didn't mean their guests with decidedly western taste in food should have to suffer. They'd compromised on just allowing a lot of the refreshments to be Japanese themed, putting green tea and red bean and sakura flavoring into almost everything that could reasonably be flavored that way. Aunt Cass had wanted to be the one to do the catering, but Tadashi and Hiro had both insisted that she was going to busy enough with wedding preparations without trying to make food for everyone, and, besides which, she deserved to have a day off from cooking. She'd finally relented on the condition that she could make the wedding cake, which the boys had readily agreed to. It was absolutely beautiful, six layers of the lightest and purest lemon-almond cake with homemade cream cheese frosting and dozens of candied sakura flowers. In a word: magical.

After the traditional speeches following the meal (GoGo and Sabine's as packed full of embarrassing stories as they'd been able to manage to squeeze in, Honey Lemon's ridiculously sweet, and poor Wasabi pretty much sobbed the whole way through his), it was time for the dancing. They had a pretty packed schedule, but somehow they managed to make it through all of them without any major mixups. Tadashi and Fred's was first with "A Thousand Years", a song they'd chosen both because it was a song they loved so much and because it spoke so much of their relationship-how their separation had only made their love stronger and how being here today made every painful second of waiting worth it. Hiro and Ezra's was to the song, "Just the Way You Are", it both being the first song they had ever danced to together (Ezra singing it softly in Hiro's ear the entire time) and because it represented the way that they had both helped each other see the best in themselves in some of their darkest times. Then the mothers in the room were invited to dance with their sons: Ezra with Hera, and Hiro and Tadashi trading off dancing with Aunt Cass while the song "God Gave Me You" played in the background, signifying how grateful all of the boys were to the women who hadn't given birth to them but had stepped up to take on the mantle of being their maternal figures all the same. After such an emotional dance, they needed something to lighten the mood, which Sabine had already prepared for by playfully choosing the song "Hey Soul Sister" for her and Ezra's dance. By the end of it everyone had been able to put away the hankies and were smiling again.

And then it was time for Hiro and Tadashi's dance.

"I swear, if you actually make good on your threat of playing 'Holding Out for a Hero/Hiro', I will not talk to you until we're both crippled old men" Hiro playfully mumbles as Tadashi stands up to go let the DJ know that they were ready for their song.

"Trust me, I did something a lot more personal than that," Tadashi reassures him with a small grin.

"How can you get much more personal? You literally change the words in almost every line to have my name in it," Hiro points out with a tiny smirk.

"Oh, you'll see!" Tadashi chuckles.

"That's what I'm worried about…" Hiro admits.

"Just follow my lead," Tadashi answers, lovingly ruffling his hair before heading over to the DJ booth.

"So, first of all, I just wanted to thank all of you guys for coming," Tadashi says, taking the microphone. "You have no idea how much it means to us to have all of you being here to support and celebrate with us. That said, I have a very special song that I picked out to dance to with my otouto, Hiro. Well, actually, not just dance to-the original version wasn't quite right for us, so I decided to come up with my own take on it. I can't really properly sing it while focusing on dancing, so I managed to do a recording of it. I hope you all like it. This one's for you, little bro."

"Dashi…" Hiro was looking a mixture of embarrassed, slightly pissed, and maybe bordering on almost being about to get majorly emotional.

"C'mon, just dance with me," Tadashi answers with a warm smile, leading his younger sibling out onto the dance floor as the recorded vocals fill the room.

" _Look at the two of you dancing that way, lost in the moment and each other's face. So much in love, you're alone in this place, like there's nobody else in the world. I was enough for him not long ago. I was his number one, he told me so. And he still means the world to me, just so you know, so be careful when you hold my boy._ "

"Oh my gosh, Dashi…" Hiro whispers, blushing bright pink and burying his face in his brother's shoulder, whether to hide embarrassment or something more it was hard to tell.

Tadashi lets out a low chuckle, starting to sing softly along with the words. " _Time changes everything, life must go on. And I'm not gonna stand in your way. But I loved him first. I held him first. And a place in my heart will always be his. From the first breath he breathed, when he first smiled at me, I knew the love of a brother runs deep. And I prayed that he'd find you someday. But it's still hard to give him away. I loved him first."_

At this point both brothers were just barely managing to hold it together, and so were about half the guests (Aunt Cass was openly crying), but there was still more to the song so Tadashi just carries on as best he can.

" _How could that beautiful young man with you be the same freckle-faced kid that I knew? The one that I read all those fairy tales to, and tucked into bed all those nights? And I knew the first time I saw you with him, it was only a matter of time. But I loved him first, and I held him first. And a place in my heart will always be his. From the first breath he breathed, when he first smiled at me, I knew the love of a brother runs deep. And I prayed that he'd find you someday. But it's still hard to give him away. I loved him first._ "

As they'd planned in advance, as the last verse of the song plays, Ezra comes out onto the dance floor and Tadashi gently hands Hiro over to him.

" _Someday you might know what I'm going through, when a miracle smiles up at you. I loved him first."_

Hiro gently squeezes his new husband's hands before turning to pull his brother into a tight hug.

"Thank you, Dashi," he whispers, a few stray tears actually making it out. "I love you so much…"

"I love you too," Tadashi answers, hugging him back just as tightly.

"No matter what, you'll always be my nii-chan," Hiro say softly.

"And you'll always be my otouto," Tadashi answers, finding himself crying as he gently pecks the top of his brother's head.

"No one and nothing can ever take that away from us," Hiro tells him, looking up into his brother's eyes, a look of fierce determination on his face. "If a fire can't separate us, nothing can!"

"R-Right." Tadashi quickly swipes at some of the tears on his face. "Oh my gosh, I swore I wasn't going to cry…"

"It's okay, you big nerd," Hiro laughs, helping him wipe away the tears before offering him a warm smile as the song "Safe and Sound" comes on. "C'mon-one more dance with me?"

"Anything for you, otouto," Tadashi answers, gratefully allowing his brother to pull him out onto the floor for another dance and knowing that Hiro was right. No matter what happened, somehow they would always manage to stay together. Not getting married, not a fire, not time, not even death itself could ever permanently separate them. And that was all Tadashi could ever ask or hope for.


End file.
